[6] In September 2000, the 13-year-old Djokovic felt he was ready to take further steps a little faster than his contemporaries, so he decided to try a tournament in the ITF Junior Circuit, a worldwide U18 competition.
The tournament was played at just twenty kilometers away from his home in Belgrade, in the small town of Pančevo, and he entered as a lucky loser before being eliminated in the first round by seventh seed Gligorce Sanev.
[1][15] As a member of the Yugoslav national team, Djokovic reached the final of the ITF World Junior Championship for players under 14, in which he lost his match in singles to Germany's Aljoscha Thron.
In April, Djokovic played two U16 tournaments in Belgium, both on clay, the first in Anderlecht, dropping only one set en route to the final, which he lost to Marcel Granollers, 6–2, 6–1.
[19] In June, Djokovic won two prestigious tournaments in France, the Derby Cadets in La Boule, where he beat future world No.
[8] Following a two-year hiatus, Djokovic returned to the ITF junior circuit in September 2002, at the age of 15, and played his first match there in Pančevo, the exact same tournament that he had contested two years earlier, in 2000.
[22] Djokovic and Savić faced each other again a week later in the quarterfinals of the Yugoslavia Junior Open in Novi Sad, this time losing in three sets.
[8] In November, Djokovic went on a tour in the United States, where he participated in the U18s category at the prestigious Eddie Herr International Junior Championships in Florida, and in the Prince Cup and Orange Bowl in Miami.
[8][26] After winning the first set 6–2, he retired during the second due to pain in his lower stomach; an injury that he had sustained at the gym in the academy of Niki Pilić in Munich.
[22] In June 2003, Djokovic made his junior grand slam debut at the French Open after defeating future Orange Bowl champion Timothy Neilly in the final round of the qualifying draw.
[25][29] This gave him the confidence to attack the US Open junior event in September, where he was a direct entrant into the main draw, but lost in the first round to Robert Smeets.
[8][25] Djokovic played his last tournament for the year at the U16 Junior Davis Cup, in the clay courts of Essen, where he entered as the world's best U16 player, helping his country to a 2–1 victory over India in the first round by winning his singles and doubles matches.
[8][6][25] This proved to be his penultimate tournament on the ITF junior circuit, with his last coming a few months later in August, the U18 European Summer Cup, where he recorded three wins, including Lukáš Lacko.
Djokovic compiled a singles win-loss record of 56–12 for a win percentage of 82% (and 23–6 in doubles for 79%), including 24–5 on clay, 22–5 on hard courts, and 10–2 on the other surfaces (grass and carpet).