Novak Djokovic's Wife, Jelena (Getty Images)Jelena Djokovic is not a footnote in her husband's story. Long before Novak Djokovic became the greatest tennis player of his generation, she was beside him, navigating budget airline workarounds, long-distance stretches, and the grind of early professional tennis life. Now, as Novak chases a record 25th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon 2026, the woman in his player's box is also the CEO of their family foundation, a businesswoman, and a mother of two who has built an identity well beyond courtside appearances.Who is Jelena Djokovic and where is she from?Jelena Ristic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1986 to parents Miomir and Vera Ristic. She grew up close to her older sister Marija, whom she has described as her best friend. Her warmest childhood memories, she has said, are from her grandparents' village of Ljig, where summers meant swimming pools and her grandmother's freshly baked doughnuts.At 18, she left Belgrade for Milan's Bocconi University, one of Europe's most prestigious business schools, where she studied luxury brand management. She later earned a master's degree at the International University of Monaco. That academic grounding would shape everything she built professionally later in life.How did Jelena and Novak Djokovic meet?They met in high school. The same Belgrade school, the same sports-focused programme, the same circles. What started in the late 1990s as a teenage friendship turned into something more in the early 2000s, though the early years were anything but glamorous."Us getting together was like science fiction almost," Jelena once said. "I was a student barely getting by, and he was a very young tennis player who also had no money to spare on expensive trips. Airplanes were, at the time, something utterly out of our reach. We contrived and devised these plans how to meet, how to make our relationship work."Their first date was at a sports bar in Monte Carlo and, by Jelena's own admission, was memorably awkward. Still, the relationship held. She moved to Monaco after graduating, where they lived together while Novak's career climbed the ATP rankings and she pursued postgraduate studies.After a decade together, Novak proposed in September 2013. They married on July 10, 2014, at the Aman Sveti Stefan Resort in Montenegro, with Jelena visibly pregnant with their first child."Seeing her for the first time in her wedding dress, smiling and walking towards me — she looked like an angel," Novak said. "I was focused on her, and her smile, and our baby. It really was a perfect moment."Jelena remembered the day differently, if no less emotionally. "I was very nervous and everything seemed a blur. I was seeing him through tears and immediately started crying when I saw him. I am so blessed to have him in my life. I couldn't ask for a better partner than him."What does Jelena Djokovic do for work?In 2009, Jelena began her professional career as a Human Resources Coordinator at Tamoil SAM, a European energy company based in Monaco. She later launched Jelena Ristic Consulting in 2011, focusing on brand strategy and digital marketing, and in 2015 founded Original Magazin, a digital platform built around entrepreneurship and values-based living.Today, she serves as global CEO of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, which the couple co-founded in 2007. The foundation's work centres on early childhood education in Serbia, building preschools, training educators, and supporting underserved communities. Her foundation bio captures her philosophy in her own words: she is described as "an open-minded apprentice of life with a never-satiating hunger for knowledge" who "lives and breathes Early Childhood Education" and, in a line that feels entirely like her, "doesn't really read books — she devours them."Who are Jelena and Novak Djokovic's children?**Jelena and Novak have two children. Their son Stefan was born in October 2014, and their daughter Tara followed in September 2017. Both are regulars in their father's player's box at Grand Slams, often spotted cheering alongside their mother during his matches.Novak has spoken often about what fatherhood has meant for his tennis. "Whether I'm winning or losing, she's always there. Family's always there," he said. "When I go back home, I'm not a tennis player anymore. I'm a father and a husband. That's a kind of balance that I think allows me to play this well. Ever since I got married and became a father, I haven't lost many matches, I won many tournaments. I suggest that to every player, 'Get married, have kids, let's enjoy this.'"Stefan, his eldest, has taken up tennis himself -- a detail Novak has mentioned with unmistakable pride.