Nenad Zimonjić


Nenad Zimonjić is a Serbian professional tennis player who was ranked World No. 1 in 2008 in doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No. 1, after Slobodan Živojinović. While Zimonjić is known as a doubles specialist, he has recorded two big wins in his singles career. A 22-year span consisting of 54 Davis Cup ties including 43 victories has resulted in him becoming the most accomplished Davis Cup player in his nations history. He has a very powerful first serve that he can hit at up to 235 km/h.

Career

Doubles

Zimonjić turned pro in 1995 and remained relatively unknown outside his native country until a surprise victory in the mixed doubles at the 2004 Australian Open. Paired for the first time with Russian Elena Bovina, he beat defending champions Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes in straight sets in an hour and nine minutes. Alongside Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, he won the 2006 French Open crown with a straight-sets victory over Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva. At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, Zimonjić reached the final of the men's doubles alongside France's Fabrice Santoro and the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles.
In 2007, Zimonjić reached the 2007 French Open mixed doubles final as the defending champions with Katarina Srebotnik and lost to Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram. He left Santoro after Wimbledon and teamed with Mahesh Bhupathi until after the 2007 US Open. After the US Open, Nenad left Bhupathi and partnered with Daniel Nestor, who won the French Open earlier in the year alongside Mark Knowles. The team won the 2007 St. Petersburg Open, without losing a set. Nestor and Zimonjić later won 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 Wimbledon and 2010 French Open.
In 2009, they defended their Wimbledon title & won 5 Masters 1000 titles. At the World Team Cup as a part of the Serbian team. With Victor Troicki, he won two decisive games against Italian and Argentinian teams; as a result, Serbia finished first in its group, and then proceeded to beat Germany in the final encounter.
In 2010, they finished runners-up at the Australian Open, later on in the year he won both the doubles with Daniel Nestor and the mixed doubles with Katarina Srebotnik at Roland Garros. Zimonjic ended his partnership with Nestor after winning the ATP World Tour Finals.
In 2011 he partnered with Michaël Llodra, together then won one Masters 1000 title & four ATP 500 titles. Their partnership ended in early 2012. In 2014, he & Nestor renewed their partnership which saw them both return to the top 10 by May & ranked 3 by the end of the year. In 2015 he teamed up with Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.
On 26 July 2017 the Serbian became the 10th player to record 700 doubles match wins.

Singles

In 2004, he defeated Andre Agassi in St Pölten, and in 2005 on the grass of Halle, he defeated Nicolas Kiefer. Other recognised opponents include Ivo Karlovic in 2000, Nicolas Mahut in 2001.

Davis Cup

Zimonjić has been a member of Serbia Davis Cup team since 1995, playing both singles and doubles, and in 2003–2004 he was the playing captain of the national team. In recent years, with the emergence of highly ranked Serbian singles players Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarević, and Viktor Troicki, Zimonjić became a doubles specialist on the team, partnering all of them, as well as Dušan Vemić and Ilija Bozoljac.
In 2010, Serbia won its first ever Davis Cup title, following the victories over United States, Croatia, Czech Republic, and France in the final match. Zimonjić played in all four doubles rubbers over the course of the competition, winning once and losing the other three times. To celebrate the win, all the players shaved their heads. The central celebration was held in Belgrade in front of several thousand fans, and the Serbian national postal service issued a stamp picturing the players.
In the 2013 quarterfinals against the United States, he and Ilija Bozoljac had an impressive five set victory against the no. 1 ranked Bryan brothers.

Personal life

Zimonjić was born in Belgrade, and was brought up in the Borča suburb, while he is currently living in New Belgrade. Zimonjić's paternal family hails from the Gacko region in Herzegovina, from where it settled in Vučkovica near Kragujevac, while his mother was born in Gospić, in Lika. The family's slava is Aranđelovdan. He is related to Bogdan Zimonjić, a Serbian Orthodox priest and guerilla leader.
In 2008, he married former model Mina Knežević. On 4 December 2008 his wife gave birth to twins, Leon and Luna.

Significant finals

Grand Slam

Men's doubles: 7 (3–4)

Mixed doubles: 10 (5–5)

Year-End Championships

Doubles: 3 (2–1)

ATP career finals

Doubles: 91 (54 titles, 37 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–11999 Sybase Open – Doubles|Pacific Coast Championships, USWorld SeriesHard Aleksandar Kitinov Todd Woodbridge
Mark Woodforde
5–7, 7–6, 4–6
Win1–11999 Citrix Tennis Championships – Doubles|Delray Beach Open, USWorld SeriesClay Max Mirnyi Doug Flach
Brian MacPhie
7–6, 3–6, 6–3
Win2–12000 Citrix Tennis Championships – Doubles|Delray Beach Open, US InternationalHard Brian MacPhie Joshua Eagle
Andrew Florent
7–5, 6–4
Loss2–22000 BMW Open – Doubles|Bavarian Championships, GermanyInternationalClay Max Mirnyi David Adams
John-Laffnie de Jager
4–6, 4–6
Win3–22000 CA-TennisTrophy – Doubles|Vienna Open, AustriaIntl. GoldHard Yevgeny Kafelnikov Jiří Novák
David Rikl
6–4, 6–4
Loss3–32001 Dubai Tennis Championships – Doubles|Dubai Tennis Championships, UAEIntl. GoldHard Daniel Nestor Joshua Eagle
Sandon Stolle
4–6, 4–6
Loss3–42001 Estoril Open – Men's Doubles|Estoril Open, PortugalInternationalClay Donald Johnson Radek Štěpánek
Michal Tabara
4–6, 1–6
Win4–42001 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon – Doubles|Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, FranceInternationalCarpet Daniel Nestor Arnaud Clément
Sébastien Grosjean
6–1, 6–2
Win5–42002 Kroger St. Jude International – Men's Doubles|U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, USIntl. GoldHard Brian MacPhie Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–3, 3–6,
Win6–42003 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships – Doubles|Delray Beach Open, US InternationalHard Leander Paes Raemon Sluiter
Martin Verkerk
7–5, 3–6, 7–5
Loss6–52003 CAM Open Comunidad Valenciana – Doubles|Valencia Open, SpainInternationalClay Brian MacPhie Lucas Arnold Ker
Mariano Hood
1–6, 7–6, 4–6
Loss6–62003 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix – Doubles|St. Pölten Grand Prix, AustriaInternationalClay Sargis Sargsian Simon Aspelin
Massimo Bertolini
4–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win7–62003 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles|St. Petersburg Open, RussiaInternationalHard Julian Knowle Michael Kohlmann
Rainer Schüttler
7–6, 6–3
Win8–62004 Monte Carlo Masters – Doubles|Monte-Carlo Masters, MonacoMastersClay Tim Henman Gastón Etlis
Martín Rodríguez
7–5, 6–2
Loss8–72004 BMW Open – Doubles|Bavarian Championships, GermanyInternationalClay Julian Knowle James Blake
Mark Merklein
2–6, 4–6
Loss8–82004 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles|Wimbledon, UKGrand SlamGrass Julian Knowle Jonas Björkman
Todd Woodbridge
1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win9–82005 Monte Carlo Masters – Doubles|Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco MastersClay Leander Paes Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
Walkover
Win10–82005 Torneo Godó – Doubles|Barcelona Open, SpainIntl. GoldClay Leander Paes Feliciano López
Rafael Nadal
6–3, 6–3
Loss10–92005 If Stockholm Open – Doubles|Stockholm Open, SwedenInternationalHard Leander Paes Wayne Arthurs
Paul Hanley
3–6, 3–6
Loss10–102005 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid – Doubles|Madrid Open, SpainMastersHard Leander Paes Mark Knowles
Daniel Nestor
6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Loss10–112005 Tennis Masters Cup – Doubles|Tennis Masters Cup, ChinaMasters CupCarpet Leander Paes Michaël Llodra
Fabrice Santoro
7–6, 3–6, 6–7
Win11–112006 Medibank International – Men's Doubles|Sydney International, AustraliaInternationalHard Fabrice Santoro František Čermák
Leoš Friedl
6–1, 6–4
Loss11–122006 Monte Carlo Masters – Doubles|Monte-Carlo Masters, MonacoMastersClay Fabrice Santoro Jonas Björkman
Max Mirnyi
2–6, 6–7
Win12–122006 Gerry Weber Open – Doubles|Halle Open, GermanyInternationalGrass Fabrice Santoro Michael Kohlmann
Rainer Schüttler
6–0, 6–4
Loss12–132006 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles|Wimbledon, UKGrand SlamGrass Fabrice Santoro Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 2–6
Win13–132006 Kremlin Cup – Men's Doubles|Kremlin Cup, RussiaInternationalCarpet Fabrice Santoro František Čermák
Jaroslav Levinský
6–1, 7–5
Loss13–142006 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles|Paris Masters, FranceMastersCarpet Fabrice Santoro Arnaud Clément
Michaël Llodra
6–7, 2–6
Win14–142007 Qatar Open – Doubles|Qatar Open, QatarInternationalHard Mikhail Youzhny Martin Damm
Leander Paes
6–1, 7–6
Win15–142007 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles|Dubai Tennis Championships, UAEIntl. GoldHard Fabrice Santoro Mahesh Bhupathi
Radek Štěpánek
7–5, 6–7,
Win16–142007 Internazionali BNL d'Italia – Men's Doubles|Italian Open, ItalyMastersClay Fabrice Santoro Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–7,
Loss16–152007 Gerry Weber Open – Doubles|Halle Open, GermanyInternationalGrass Fabrice Santoro Simon Aspelin
Julian Knowle
4–6, 6–7
Win17–152007 Pilot Pen Tennis – Men's Doubles|Connecticut Open, USInternationalHard Mahesh Bhupathi Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Marcin Matkowski
6–3, 6–3
Win18–152007 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles|St. Petersburg Open, Russia InternationalCarpet Daniel Nestor Jürgen Melzer
Todd Perry
6–1, 7–6
Loss18–162007 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles|Paris Masters, FranceMastersHard Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
3–6, 6–7
Loss18–172008 Pacific Life Open – Men's Doubles|Indian Wells Masters, USMastersHard Daniel Nestor Jonathan Erlich
Andy Ram
4–6, 4–6
Loss18–182008 Internazionali BNL d'Italia – Men's Doubles|Italian Open, ItalyMastersClay Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–3, 4–6,
Win19–182008 Masters Series Hamburg – Doubles|Masters Series Hamburg, GermanyMastersClay Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–4, 5–7,
Loss19–192008 French Open – Men's Doubles|French Open, FranceGrand SlamClay Daniel Nestor Pablo Cuevas
Luis Horna
2–6, 3–6
Win20–192008 Stella Artois Championships – Doubles|Queen's Club Championships, UKInternationalGrass Daniel Nestor Marcelo Melo
André Sá
6–4, 7–6
Win21–192008 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles|Wimbledon, UKGrand SlamGrass Daniel Nestor Jonas Björkman
Kevin Ullyett
7–6, 6–7, 6–3, 6–3
Win22–192008 Rogers Masters – Doubles|Canadian Open, CanadaMastersHard Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–2, 4–6,
Win23–192008 Tennis Masters Cup – Doubles|Tennis Masters Cup, ChinaMasters CupHard Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
7–6, 6–2
Loss23–202009 Qatar Open – Doubles|Qatar Open, Qatar250 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Marc López
Rafael Nadal
6–4, 4–6,
Loss23–212009 Medibank International Sydney – Men's Doubles|Sydney International, Australia250 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
1–6, 6–7
Win24–212009 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Doubles|Rotterdam Open, Netherlands500 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Lukáš Dlouhý
Leander Paes
6–2, 7–5
Win25–212009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Doubles|Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco Masters 1000Clay Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–1
Win26–212009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Doubles|Barcelona Open, Spain 500 SeriesClay Daniel Nestor Mahesh Bhupathi
Mark Knowles
6–3, 7–6
Win27–212009 Internazionali BNL d'Italia – Men's Doubles|Italian Open, Italy Masters 1000Clay Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
7–6, 6–3
Win28–212009 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open – Men's Doubles|Madrid Open, SpainMasters 1000Clay Daniel Nestor Simon Aspelin
Wesley Moodie
6–4, 6–4
Win29–212009 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles|Wimbledon, UK Grand SlamGrass Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
7–6, 6–7, 7–6, 6–3
Win30–212009 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters – Doubles|Cincinnati Masters, USMasters 1000Hard Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
3–6, 7–6,
Win31–212009 Davidoff Swiss Indoors – Doubles|Swiss Indoors, Switzerland500 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–2, 6–3
Win32–212009 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles|Paris Masters, FranceMasters 1000Hard Daniel Nestor Marcel Granollers
Tommy Robredo
6–3, 6–4
Win33–212010 Medibank International Sydney – Men's Doubles|Sydney International, Australia 250 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Ross Hutchins
Jordan Kerr
6–3, 7–6
Loss33–222010 Australian Open – Men's Doubles|Australian Open, AustraliaGrand SlamHard Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
3–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win34–222010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Doubles|Rotterdam Open, Netherlands 500 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Simon Aspelin
Paul Hanley
6–4, 4–6,
Loss34–232010 BNP Paribas Open – Men's Doubles|Indian Wells Masters, USMasters 1000Hard Daniel Nestor Marc López
Rafael Nadal
6–7, 3–6
Win35–232010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Doubles|Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco Masters 1000Clay Daniel Nestor Mahesh Bhupathi
Max Mirnyi
6–3, 2–0 ret.
Win36–232010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Doubles|Barcelona Open, Spain 500 SeriesClay Daniel Nestor Lleyton Hewitt
Mark Knowles
4–6, 6–3,
Loss36–242010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open – Men's Doubles|Madrid Open, SpainMasters 1000Clay Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
3–6, 4–6
Win37–242010 French Open – Men's Doubles|French Open, FranceGrand SlamClay Daniel Nestor Lukáš Dlouhý
Leander Paes
7–5, 6–2
Win38–242010 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy – Doubles|Vienna Open, Austria 250 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Marcin Matkowski
7–5, 3–6,
Loss38–252010 Swiss Indoors – Doubles|Swiss Indoors, Switzerland500 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
3–6, 6–3,
Win39–252010 ATP World Tour Finals – Doubles|ATP World Tour Finals, UKTour FinalsHard Daniel Nestor Mahesh Bhupathi
Max Mirnyi
7–6, 6–4
Loss39–262011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Doubles|Rotterdam Open, Netherlands500 SeriesHard Michaël Llodra Jürgen Melzer
Philipp Petzschner
4–6, 6–3,
Loss39–272011 Mutua Madrid Open – Men's Doubles|Madrid Open, SpainMasters 1000Clay Michaël Llodra Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
3–6, 3–6
Win40–272011 Legg Mason Tennis Classic – Doubles|Washington Open, US500 SeriesHard Michaël Llodra Robert Lindstedt
Horia Tecău
6–7, 7–6,
Win41–272011 Rogers Cup – Men's Doubles|Canadian Open, Canada Masters 1000Hard Michaël Llodra Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–7,
Loss41–282011 Western & Southern Open – Men's Doubles|Cincinnati Masters, USMasters 1000Hard Michaël Llodra Mahesh Bhupathi
Leander Paes
6–7, 6–7
Win42–282011 China Open – Men's Doubles|China Open, China500 SeriesHard Michaël Llodra Robert Lindstedt
Horia Tecău
7–6, 7–6
Loss42–292011 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Doubles|Shanghai Masters, ChinaMasters 1000Hard Michaël Llodra Max Mirnyi
Daniel Nestor
6–3, 1–6,
Win43–292011 Swiss Indoors – Doubles|Swiss Indoors, Switzerland 500 SeriesHard Michaël Llodra Max Mirnyi
Daniel Nestor
6–4, 7–5
Win44–292012 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Doubles|Rotterdam Open, Netherlands 500 SeriesHard Michaël Llodra Robert Lindstedt
Horia Tecău
4–6, 7–5,
Win45–292012 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles|St. Petersburg Open, Russia 250 SeriesHard Rajeev Ram Lukáš Lacko
Igor Zelenay
6–2, 4–6,
Loss45–302012 If Stockholm Open – Doubles|Stockholm Open, Sweden250 SeriesHard Robert Lindstedt Marcelo Melo
Bruno Soares
7–6, 5–7,
Win46–302012 Swiss Indoors – Doubles|Swiss Indoors, Switzerland 500 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Treat Huey
Dominic Inglot
7–5, 6–7,
Win47–302013 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Doubles|Rotterdam Open, Netherlands 500 SeriesHard Robert Lindstedt Thiemo de Bakker
Jesse Huta Galung
5–7, 6–3,
Loss47–312013 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles|Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE500 SeriesHard Robert Lindstedt Mahesh Bhupathi
Michaël Llodra
6–7, 6–7
Win48–312013 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Doubles|Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco Masters 1000Clay Julien Benneteau Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
4–6, 7–6,
Win49–312011 Legg Mason Tennis Classic – Doubles|Washington Open, US 500 SeriesHard Julien Benneteau Mardy Fish
Radek Štěpánek
7–6, 7–5
Win50–312014 Apia International Sydney – Men's Doubles|Sydney International, Australia 250 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Rohan Bopanna
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
7–6, 7–6
Loss50–322014 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles|Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE500 SeriesHard Daniel Nestor Rohan Bopanna
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
4–6, 3–6
Loss50–332014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Doubles|Barcelona Open, Spain500 SeriesClay Daniel Nestor Jesse Huta Galung
Stéphane Robert
3–6, 3–6
Win51–332014 Mutua Madrid Open – Men's Doubles|Madrid Open, Spain Masters 1000Clay Daniel Nestor Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–2
Win52–332014 Internazionali BNL d'Italia – Men's Doubles|Italian Open, Italy Masters 1000Clay Daniel Nestor Robin Haase
Feliciano López
6–4, 7–6
Win53–332014 Swiss Indoors – Doubles|Swiss Indoors, Switzerland 500 SeriesHard Vasek Pospisil Marin Draganja
Henri Kontinen
7–6, 1–6,
Loss53–342015 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles|Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE500 SeriesHard Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi Rohan Bopanna
Daniel Nestor
4–6, 1–6
Loss53–352015 Mutua Madrid Open – Men's Doubles|Madrid Open, SpainMasters 1000Clay Marcin Matkowski Rohan Bopanna
Florin Mergea
2–6, 7–6,
Loss53–362015 Aegon Championships – Doubles|Queen's Club Championships, UK500 SeriesGrass Marcin Matkowski Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Nicolas Mahut
2–6, 2–6
Loss53–372015 Western & Southern Open – Men's Doubles|Cincinnati Masters, USMasters 1000Hard Marcin Matkowski Daniel Nestor
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
2–6, 2–6
Win54–372017 Garanti Koza Sofia Open – Doubles|Sofia Open, Bulgaria250 SeriesHard Viktor Troicki Mikhail Elgin
Andrey Kuznetsov
6–4, 6–4

Team competition finals: 4 (3–1)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Current through the 2020 Rotterdam Open.

Mixed doubles

Awards

;1994
;1996
;1998
;2001
;2007
;2008
;2010
;2012
;2013

Top 10 wins