Novak Djokovic has paid his respects to Tatjana Jecmenica-Jevtic after Serbia’s former Fed Cup captain died in a car crash. Reports in their homeland claim the 47-year-old and her husband, Darko Jevtic, became trapped in an SUV that collided with a truck.
Jevtic is said to be still alive but in an induced coma with life-threatening injuries after being left in critical condition. The crash reportedly occurred on the city road bypass, a motorway that encircles the Serbian capital, Belgrade, at around 9pm on Friday.
Djokovic responded to the news on Saturday by sharing a post from the Serbian tennis Instagram community U Penjanju. The post features a monochrome image of Jecmenica-Jevtic.
Their message, translated into English from Serbian, reads: « Tatjana Ječmenica-Jevtić (July 4, 1978 – February 13, 2026), former tennis player and coach of the Fed Cup team of Serbia, died tonight in a car accident in Belgrade. Tašo, rest in peace. »
Djokovic repeated their message, adding: « May your soul rest in peace. » He punctuates his tribute with the folded hands and red heart emojis.
Olga Danilovic, the current No. 1 Serbian women’s singles player, has spoken at length about Jecmenica-Jevtic. She told Sport Klub: « I still can’t believe it. Tasa is part of my fondest memories from my junior years. We won many tournaments, perhaps the most important being the junior Roland Garros doubles.
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« We spent a lot of time together. The positive energy and adrenaline in her presence were never lacking. She taught me to be aggressive and to always believe in that game. She played very well, and there were times in practice when I couldn’t take a point from her.
Danilovic continued: « (Husband) Darko and (son) Aleksa were her everything in the world, and our long trips were hard for her. She lived to make them happy.
« When we would return from tournaments, Darko and Aleksa would come halfway to wait for us because she missed them so much. I am infinitely sorry. »
Jecmenica-Jevtic ranked as high as world No. 72 in singles and No. 88 in doubles during her career, both in the summer of 1996. However, the following year, her long-time coach, Dragan Ciric Seki, also died in a car crash and after which she took six months away from the sport before soon stopping playing singles tournaments to focus on doubles for seven years until her retirement in 2005.
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