Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic and his longtime girlfriend Jelena Ristic wed Thursday in a gazebo civil ceremony on a lawn at a posh Adriatic resort.
The event, held in a park above a beach close to the luxury Montenegro islet Sveti Stefan, was attended by “the families, close friends and some hundred guests,” said a source close to the families who requested anonymity.
“The ceremony was followed by a banquet… Clouds and some rain drops did not spoil the festivities,” the source told AFP.
A religious ceremony was to take place on Saturday.
Among the guest’s attending Thursday’s ceremony were Russian tennis players Maria Sharapova, Djokovic’s coach Marjan Vajda and his wife, as well as his Serbian fellow tennis players Viktor Troicki, Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic.
On two beaches just opposite Sveti Stefan, some 50 people gathered hoping to see the newly-weds.
The 27-year-old Djokovic — who won his second Wimbledon title on Sunday — and Ristic are expecting their first child later this year.
According to local media reports they rented all of islet resort, which is occupied by a fortified village built in the 15th century, to maintain privacy.
Many international film stars, among them Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Orson Welles and Kirk Douglas, frequented the resort in the 1960s and 1970s.
Djokovic and Ristic also arranged to have the nearest beach closed to the public to prevent intruders or paparazzi getting close. Security officers dressed in civilian clothes were deployed.
Belgrade’s Blic newspaper reported that employees at the Sveti Stefan resort had to sign gag orders relating to the wedding and were prohibited from bringing cameras or mobile phones to the islet, which connected to the mainland by a stony strip.
The world number one, who dedicated his Wimbledon title to his future wife and child, has told reporters he would “now close a tennis chapter for a while” to concentrate on his wife and budding family.