"The other four laughed" - Novak Djokovic's childhood coach recalls the Serb's peers ridiculing him after he disclosed his World No. 1 aspirations

Novak Djokovic's childhood coach, Nikola Pilic, recently recalled a meeting in his academy's office where a teenage Djokovic revealed his dream of becoming the World No. 1.

Pilic, a former player, finished as the runner-up at Wimbledon 1973. After his playing career ended, the Croat became Michael Stich's coach. Eventually, his paths crossed with Djokovic, and the rest is history.

The Serb arrived at Pilic's tennis academy in Germany as an 11-year-old, and left for his hometown in Belgrade a few years later. Pilic, understandably, has a lot of memorable anecdotes about the 24-time Major winner.

He recently spoke to a Serbian tabloid about Djokovic's formative years at his academy. The Croat reminisced about the time he had invited five of his young wards into his office to ask them about their dreams.

While some of the responses he got were on expected lines, he was greatly impressed by Novak Djokovic, who said that he aspired to be the World No. 1 someday. Pilic said the Serb's friends broke into laughter upon hearing his answer, but the former Wimbledon finalist could sense that Djokovic would grow up to be a great player.

"I once invited five players under the age of 15 to my office. I ask them what they want to achieve," Pilic said to Novosti Rs. "One says he would like to be a good tennis player, the other wants to play in the Bundesliga. And Novak said - I would like to be number one in the world! The other four laughed. I didn't laugh. I didn't know if it would be first, third, eleventh, or twenty-fourth, but, by all possible parameters, I knew it would be international class."

"Novak Djokovic made a lot of progress, he was extremely focused... every day he had 15 different ideas" - Nikola Pilic

Novak Djokovic and his childhood coach Nikola Pilic joined forces for the 2010 Davis Cup

Nikola Pilic was also asked about how comfortable Novak Djokovic was upon his arrival at the former's academy in Germany. The Croat replied that his wife Mija was the first person to identify the Serb's desire to improve.

"In the first few months, my wife Mija played an extremely large role," Pilic said. "She felt he needed support. He was small, he came at the age of 13, and Serbia was bombed at that time in 1999. She said that Novak had clear eyes. She would say to me, 'When he talks about tennis, he has sentences similar to yours.' He made a lot of progress, he was extremely focused. Every day he had 15 different ideas."

Interestingly, the World No. 1 worked again with Nikola Pilic during Serbia's 2010 Davis Cup-winning campaign. Pilic stated that while the coach-student duo hardly meet, they still keep tabs on each other through SMS.

"We rarely hear from each other, we mostly communicate via SMS messages. I won't bother him. A million people bother him. It is primarily about congratulations... 'Well done Novak, you are the best,', 'Thank you very much, Niko' and that's it," he added.