While the Bosnian civil war may have ended in 1995, the memory of that conflict is still fresh. The former Yugoslavia was made up of a number of diverse ethnic groups and there was no shortage of warring factions. But with the United Nations International War Crimes Tribunal indicting Serbia's leadership triumvirate for genocide and crimes against humanity, the perception of Serbian aggression became largely ingrained.
Novak Djokovic understands this better than most. He was five years old when the conflict began and eight when it officially ended. A gifted child tennis prodigy, his only practice court became a drained swimming pool as Nato planes bombed his native Belgrade. He quickly rose through the ranks of international tennis before his breakthrough victory at the 2008 Australian Open. Along the way he would become a national treasure and was twice named Serbian athlete of the year.
He also understands his national duty extends far beyond tennis and acknowledged as much after destroying Scotland's Andy Murray in this year's Australian Open final. 'There has been a tough period for our people in Serbia,' he said. 'But we are trying every single day to present our country in the best possible way. So this is for my country, Serbia.'
The past five years has seen a renaissance in men's tennis thanks almost entirely to the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. They are easily two of the greatest players in the history of tennis and their clash in styles makes the rivalry all the richer.
Federer is imperious and elegant, almost floating on air as he swats one sublime backhand after another, while the charismatic Nadal is a powerful and invincible conquistador. Together they have combined to win 18 of the past 21 grand slams, including a number of memorable showdowns in those tournaments.
Federer has a career record of 16 grand slam victories, while Nadal, at only 24 years of age, has nine already. There is also one other thing these two great champions have in common right now: neither is as good as Djokovic. In fact, it's not even close.
After beating Nadal last week in the final of the Italian Open, Djokovic ran his record in matches to a sterling 37-0 for 2011. Along the way he has beaten Nadal in four straight finals including victories on the clay courts of Madrid and Rome. And when it comes to clay, no one in the history of tennis has been as dominant as Nadal. By the time the European clay-court season routinely rolled into Paris, the question for so long has not been if the Spaniard would win the French Open, but who he would beat. He has a 38-1 record at Roland Garros, has won five of the past six titles and, again, is still only 24.