Sport
The most popular sports among Serbs are football, basketball, volleyball, handball, water polo and tennis.
The two most popular football clubs in Serbia are Red Star Belgrade and FK Partizan, both from the capital city Belgrade. Red Star is the only Serbian and former Yugoslav club that has won a UEFA competition, winning the 1991 European Cup in Bari, Italy. The same year in Tokyo, Japan, the club won the Intercontinental Cup. Partizan is the first Eastern European football club which played in a European Cup final (in 1966). The matches between the two rival clubs are known as the "Eternal Derby". Serbia's national football team made their first appearance during the qualifying rounds for Euro 2008 although they did not qualify for the competition. During the qualifying tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Serbia came first in its group, ahead of France and consequently qualified directly for the championship.
Serbia is one of the traditional powerhouses of world basketball, winning various FIBA World Championships, multiple EuroBaskets and Olympic medals (albeit as FR Yugoslavia). Serbia's national basketball team is the successor to the successful Yugoslavia national basketball team. Serbia has won FIBA world championships five times and won second place in the 2009 European championship. Serbian basketball players have made a deep impact in history of basketball, having success both in the top leagues of Europe and in the NBA. Serbs that have played in the NBA include: Vlade Divac (FIBA Hall of Fame), Predrag Stojaković, Željko Rebrača, Marko Jarić, Nenad Krstić, Darko Miličić, Vladimir Radmanović, and Serbian American Pete Maravich.
Serbian tennis players Novak Đoković, Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković, Nenad Zimonjić, Janko Tipsarević and Viktor Troicki are very successful and their success has led to a popularisation of tennis in Serbia. Đoković, in particular, is very popular and is currently the World No. 1 men's tennis player in the ATP rankings, and a five-time Grand Slam champion. Ivanović, also known for her popularity worldwide, is a former World No. 1 and, like Djokovic, has experienced Grand Slam success, winning the French Open in 2008. Djokovic was also the founder of the first ATP tennis tournament in the country, the Serbia Open. Other well-known Serb tennis players are Andrea Petkovic, Jelena Dokić and Slobodan Živojinović. The Serbia men national team won the 2010 Davis Cup.
Famous quotes containing the word sport:
“Drag racing is a sport of egos, and it’s all male egos.”
—Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney (b. 1940)
“Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain,
Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,
Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid,
And parting summer’s lingering blooms delayed,
Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease,
Seats of my youth, when every sport could please,
How often have I loitered o’er the green,
Where humble happiness endeared each scene.”
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730?–1774)