No 1 Club
Kovacevic reveals McEnroe memory: ‘One of the cooler experiences of my life’
Kovacevic set to face another ATP No. 1 Club member, Djokovic, at Indian Wells
March 09, 2026
ATP Tour & Sam Hodde/Getty Images
Aleksandar Kovacevic once received a scholarship to John McEnroe’s eponymous academy.
By Andrew Eichenholz
Aleksandar Kovacevic will step into Stadium 1 Monday at the BNP Paribas Open to face a player he has looked up to throughout his life: Novak Djokovic. When he was seven, the American was courtside to watch the Serbian play Gael Monfils at the US Open, and would even snag a photo with the future No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings.
The pair clashed for the first time in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at Roland Garros in 2023, but their meeting at Flushing Meadows in 2005 remains a seminal moment in Kovacevic’s tennis journey. Djokovic is not the only legend the New York native interacted with at a young age, though.
Aleksandar Kovacevic first saw Novak Djokovic play in 2005 and met the Serbian in 2021.” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2023/05/26/21/58/kovacevic-djokovic-roland-garros-2023-(1).jpg”>
Kovacevic was one of the first kids to receive a scholarship at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, located on Randall’s Island. When ‘Kova’ was 11, he attended a tryout, encouraged by coach Gilad Bloom, beginning a longtime relationship with the inimitable lefty McEnroe.
At a World TeamTennis match at McEnroe’s eponymous academy in 2010, Kovacevic stepped on court to face the hometown hero. After the 11-year-old won the first point, McEnroe rushed the net on the second, and Kovacevic ripped a one-handed backhand passing shot for a winner up the line on the second, which was captured in a video that has earned thousands of views since.
“I think that was the first time I met him and I was really little at that point,” Kovacevic said. “I remember the racquet being almost the size of me.”
Kovacevic would move elsewhere later in his teens to continue his growth, eventually playing college tennis at the University of Illinois. But he spent his formative years at McEnroe’s academy.
“It was really cool to see that he was super involved with the kids, even back then,” Kovacevic said. “I feel that former pros in any sport — it doesn’t have to be tennis necessarily — but a lot of former legends of sports put their names on their academies or their names behind a lot of projects. That doesn’t mean that they’re really involved and I feel it’s rare to see them hands on.
“That was the coolest thing for me about John, was that he would go out there and hit with us, be super involved, coached us all the time on court, even though I was nobody. I was a 14-year-old, 15-year-old little junior tennis player.”
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One memory of McEnroe sticks out for the American, who has climbed as high as World No. 54, and it has nothing to do with tennis.
“I was out of shoes. I didn’t have shoes at the time, and he said, ‘Oh, I’ve got a pair at my house in New York. You come grab them’. I was like, ‘Really?’” Kovacevic recalled. “So I ended up going to his place on 84th Street, and he went into his place. He gave me a pair of shoes, wished me luck. That was one of the cooler experiences of my life.”
It was not just that McEnroe had given him a pair of shoes, but that such an important figure in the history of the sport had looked out for him. Throughout Kovecevic’s time at JMTA, McEnroe often would jump on court to compete with the juniors.
“He doesn’t want to lose either. Even to the kids, he won’t let them slide,” Kovacevic said. “It was always a good time when he came out, because you can tell as a player when someone’s taking it easy on you and he would never do that.”
There are many people who have made an impact throughout Kovacevic’s journey to the ATP Tour, like Bloom. But McEnroe remains an important part of the American’s path and is still in touch with the Top-100 player today.
“He’s pretty down to earth. It means the most to me when I can see the character of people like that where they don’t become too big for the little guys,” Kovacevic said. “I hope that he’s proud of that. The little kid who he gave a scholarship to a long time ago turned out to be alright at the sport.”