Ilija Bozoljac (Serbian Cyrillic: Илија Бозољац, pronounced [ǐlijaboˈzǒːʎats]; born 2 August 1985) is a former Serbian professional tennis player and coach. Bozoljac achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 101 on 29 January 2007. In doubles, he reached a career-best ranking of world No. 99 on 22 February 2016. He is commonly known by the nickname Bozo.

Professional career

2006

Bozoljac achieved his best ATP-level result at Zagreb, defeating world No. 170 Dudi Sela in the qualifying rounds. In the main draw, he secured victories over world No. 77 Daniele Bracciali and world No. 34 Feliciano López, before losing in the quarterfinals to world No. 81 Novak Djokovic.

2008

In May, Bozoljac narrowly missed qualifying for the 2008 French Open, losing to no. 75 Eduardo Schwank in the qualifying round.

In June, Bozoljac entered the main draw of the 2008 Wimbledon Championships as a lucky loser. He had defeated Nick Monroe and Robert Smeets in qualifying but lost to Stefano Galvani in five sets.

2010

Bozoljac qualified for Wimbledon and progressed to the second round, where he was defeated in four tight sets by defending champion Roger Federer.

He was a reserve player on the Serbia Davis Cup team when they won the Davis Cup title.

2013

Bozoljac began 2013 by returning to the ITF Men's circuit, taking three singles titles in the opening three months.

In April, Ilija and his doubles partner Nenad Zimonjić beat Bob and Mike Bryan in the Davis Cup World Group quarterfinals against the United States, winning 7–6(5), 7–6(1), 5–7, 4–6, 15–13 in a performance described by Sports Illustrated as "Bozo goes Beast Mode...there was Bozoljac playing out of his mind in a five-set win that left everyone shaking their heads". Bozoljac was praised by the Bryan brothers and by U.S. team captain Jim Courier, who said "Let's all tip our hats to his performance. We had him 15-30 a couple times, and the guy came up with some incredible shots."

Style of play

Bozoljac was known for his powerful serve, which could reach speeds of up to 245 km/h (152 mph), as well as his aggressive groundstrokes. His playing style was distinctive, often alternating between a double-handed forehand and a single-handed backhand. A back injury later forced him to moderate his serve, though he continued to exceed 200 km/h (120 mph) during his career.

Personal life

Bozoljac was born on 2 August 1985, in Aleksandrovac, Serbia, Serbia, to Jelena and Miroljub Bozoljac. He started playing tennis in TK Partizan in Belgrade and turned pro in 2002. He has been married to Andrijana Basarić since 2011, and they have two daughters named Lola (b. 2012) and Nika (b. 2015). They live in Belgrade, Serbia.

Team competition finals

ResultNo.DateTeam competitionSurfacePartner/TeamOpponentsScore
Loss1.Nov 2013Davis Cup, Belgrade, SerbiaHard (i)Serbia Novak Djokovic Serbia Dušan Lajović Serbia Nenad ZimonjićCzech Republic Tomáš Berdych Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek Czech Republic Lukáš Rosol Czech Republic Jan Hájek2–3

ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 25 (13–12)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (4–10)
ITF Futures (9–2)
ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss1.22 August 2005Bukhara, UzbekistanHardUzbekistan Denis Istomin4–6, 7–6(7–2), 5–6 ret.
Loss2.10 July 2006Poznań, PolandClayCzech Republic Jan Hájek4–6, 3–6
Win3.4 September 2006Donetsk, UkraineClayCzech Republic Tomáš Cakl6–4, 3–6, 7–5
Loss4.22 October 2007Rimouski, CanadaCarpet (i)United States Brendan Evans7–6(7–3), 4–6, 4–6
Win5.8 September 2008Ljubljana, SloveniaClayItaly Giancarlo Petrazzuolo6–4, 6–3
Win6.15 September 2008Banja Luka, Bosnia & HerzegovinaClaySpain Daniel Gimeno-Traver6–4, 6–4
Loss7.1 June 2009Nottingham, Great BritainGrassUnited States Brendan Evans7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Loss8.12 October 2009Tiburon, California, United StatesHardJapan Go Soeda6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Loss9.9 November 2009Knoxville, Tennessee, United StatesHard (i)United States Taylor Dent3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Loss10.15 February 2010Belgrade, SerbiaCarpet (i)Slovakia Karol Beck5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Loss11.11 July 2011Aptos, United StatesHardLithuania Laurynas Grigelis2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Loss12.29 September 2013Fergana, UzbekistanHardMoldova Radu Albot6–7(9–11), 7–6(7–3), 1–6
Win13.15 February 2014Kolkata, IndiaHardRussia Evgeny Donskoy6–1, 6–1
Loss14.20 July 2014Recanati, ItalyHardLuxembourg Gilles Müller1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 27 (17–10)

Legend
ATP Challenger (15–7)
ITF Futures (2–3)
ResultDateTournamentCategorySurfacePartnerOpponentsScore

Performance timelines

Key
WFSFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH

Singles

Current through the 2015 Banja Luka Challenger.

Tournament2003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAQ22RAQ1Q1Q2AAQ2Q11–1
French OpenAAA2RQ1Q31RQ2Q1AAQ1A1–2
WimbledonAAAQ2Q12RQ22RQ1AAQ1A2–2
US OpenAAAQ2Q1Q1AQ3Q3AAQ1A0–0
Win–loss0–00–00–01–11–11–10–11–10–00–00–00–00–04–5
National representation
Davis CupZ2AAPOPOA1RAltSFQFF1RA3–2
Win–loss1–00–00–00–11–00–01–00–00–00–00–00–10–03–2
ATP Masters Series 1000
Indian Wells MastersAAAAQ1AAAAAAAA0–0
Monte-Carlo MastersAAAAQ2AAAAAAAA0–0
Madrid Open1AAAQ2AAAQ1AAAAA0–0
Canadian OpenAAAAAAAQ1AAAAA0–0
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–0
Career statistics
Tournaments001251141030018
Overall win–loss1–00–01–13–32–51–11–11–41–10–00–30–10–011–20
Year-end ranking83456720713618214118314922748523720785235%

1 Held as Hamburg Masters (outdoor clay) until 2008, Madrid Masters (outdoor clay) 2009 – present.

Doubles

Current through 2018 Wimbledon Championships.

Tournament2003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA0–0
French OpenAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA0–0
WimbledonAAAA1RAA1RAAAAAA2R1R1–4
US OpenAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA0–0
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–10–00–00–10–00–00–00–00–00–01–10–11–4
National representation
Davis CupZ2AAPOPOA1RAltSFQFF1RAAAA4–6
Win–loss0–00–00–01–21–00–00–00–01–00–11–20–10–00–00–00–04–6
Career statistics
Tournaments001110021100011312
Overall win–loss0–00–00–13–31–10–00–01–21–10–21–20–10–01–11–10–39–18
Year-end ranking54581733925546817148913644690028225411064033333%

External links