For a country with just over 600,000 inhabitants, Montenegro is very successful in sports. And yet, they “narrowly” missed a true tennis superstar in the form of the former number three in the world, Milos Raonic, who, although born in Podgorica (at that time Titograd), chose to represent Canada, where he immigrated with his parents.
However, the reality is quite different for Montenegrin men’s tennis, so to this day, not a single tennis player from this country has even reached the top 250 on the ATP rankings in singles.
We present to you a list of the five best-ranked tennis players from Montenegro of all time in singles, when the best position on ATP rankings is taken as a criterion.
5. IGOR SAVELJIC (#1340)
We start our list with the little-known Igor Saveljic, who also won the title of Montenegrin tennis champion in 2019.
Moving on to the quarters with a 4-3 win over Virginia Tech! Igor Saveljic and @tennisgalarneau claim the final two singles victories. pic.twitter.com/saEwrjQ0Jo
— NC State Men’s Tennis 🐺🎾 (@PackMensTennis) April 27, 2017
Saveljic played tennis in college in the USA for North Carolina State University. Saveljic is also a member of the Davis Cup national team of Montenegro, and his best ranking in singles is the 1340th position on July 13, 2015.
4. RREZART CUNGU (#609)
Currently, the best-ranked tennis player from Montenegro is a 25-year-old guy from Ulcinj, Rezart Cungu. His best ranking is the 609th place on July 17, 2023.
Albanian tennis player from Montenegro, Rrezart Cungu, 19, posing with @POTUS during @whitehouse Sports and Fitness Day.
cc: @FitnessGov pic.twitter.com/lZ7TBfSH2Y— Ruben_NYC (@RubenAvxhiu) June 6, 2018
Like compatriot Igor Saveljic, Cungu also gained experience by playing for Wake Forest in college.
3. DANIEL DANILOVIC (#481)
The man who was born in Stockholm, but represented Serbia and Montenegro and later Montenegro after independence, Daniel Danilovic, had his best ranking on August 10, 2009 when he was ranked 481 on the ATP list.
Once a royal, always a Royal! Storservaren Daniel Danilovic som numera bor i USA på besök i Stockholm! pic.twitter.com/4Iqz4naOvn
— KLTK (@KLTK_) December 10, 2015
Danilovic won a silver medal for Montenegro in doubles together with Goran Tosic at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara in 2009. Towards the end of his career, in 2010 and 2011, he decided to play under the Swedish flag.
2. LJUBOMIR CELEBIC (#437)
Although still officially active, Ljubomir Celebic is far from his best ranking in his career – the 437th place he was on July 31, 2017.
Sunday saw Ljubomir Celebic win his first singles title since October 2015 with a 63 62 victory in Tunisia 🎾https://t.co/rnlB4Rk9DF pic.twitter.com/pLs16cNzXJ
— ITF Pro Circuit (@ITFprocircuit) February 14, 2017
In the Davis Cup, playing for Montenegro, Celebic has a record of 33-12.
1. GORAN TOSIC (#263)
A kind of record holder for the number of different countries under whose flags he played, Goran Tosic, represents the best Montenegrin tennis player in history since on June 7, 2010, he was in the 263rd position on the ATP rankings. This also makes him the only tennis player from this country who was among the top 300 on the ATP rankings.
JJ’s training with ex pro player Goran Tosic. #Jankovic #IBI13 pic.twitter.com/T6XYqY9nNj
— Marco Caldara (@marcocaldara) May 13, 2013
Tosic, who was born in Pancevo, Serbia, in his career played under the flags of: FR Yugoslavia (1998-2003), Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006), Montenegro (2006-2013) and Serbia (2013-2014). He was far more successful in doubles, where he was within reach of the top 100 on the ATP list (116th place in April 2014). He was a member of the doubles team that brought Montenegro silver at the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara.
He managed to get to the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open in 2010 by winning the first round of qualifying over Serbian Ilija Bozoljac
