It’s customary for the cameras at the US Open to scan the crowd for the famous faces in attendance. Michael Jordan, Michael Kors and billionaire former mayor Michael Bloomberg are just a few of the notables that have received camera time so far this year at Flushing Meadows–and that’s just the Michaels. But the most common shot for the CBS/ESPN cameras (during men’s matches) is always a close-up of the invariably beautiful wives and girlfriends of the world’s greatest tennis players. But so far the 2014 US Open has left a terrible vacuum in this regard: number one seed Novak Djolovic’s new bride Jelena Ristic has been absent.
The couple has been an item since way back in 2006, when Djokovic was just starting to figure out the pieces of the puzzle that would make him one of the world’s most successful athletes. Djokovic and Ristic were married in 2013 and they announced they are expecting a child–a baby boy–in October. Djokovic says about his wife: “I haven’t seen her for a while.” Except on Skype and Facetime. He insists that “there is nothing significant that is going to change [once he becomes a father].” But something already has. Djokovic is used to winning with Jelena Ristic looking on. Now he’s facing his old rival Andy Murray without Ristic’s presence and her watchful eyes. Murray’s girlfriend, Kim Sears, will be there.
