Novak Djokovic picks mystery child as future successor

Could Novak's young friend follow in his footsteps (©GettyImages).

Novak Djokovic has got tennis scouts' eyes wagging after announcing that he has found a future champion of the sport. If his prediction is a good as his tennis, well then we may just have a potential legend on our hands. 

The Wimbledon champion has taken to Twitter to inform his followers - more than three million of them - about the talented youngster.

Mystery new star?

Details are a little sketchy on who the child is, all that Djokovic reveals is his name, Clement, as he said: "My little friend Clement is growing into a champion. I've been following his career for couple of years now and he is improving all the time and doing all the right things for his body & mind. He keeps adding new trophies to his collection, i'm so proud of him! Well done buddy!"

Don't expect Clement to be on the road to Grand Slam honours anytime soon though. A picture of the pair, which is attached with the message, shows that the child barely reaches the height of the seven-time Grand Slam champion.

Internet searches on the youngster don't throw up any answers, it seems Djokovic really has found a hidden gem.

Perhaps the Serbian star will coach his little buddy, not many people would want to turn that sort of help down. What better preparation could you have for a career on top of tennis' tree, where Djokovic has spent much of his? 

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Champions' stronghold

Luckily the hyped-youngster isn't ready to challenge the world no.1 yet. Tennis is still firmly entrenched in its golden era with the traditional big four of Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray - players have thus far managed to break through the illustrious quartet.

Many talented stars have threatened to dominate, but have fallen away with a lack of consistency. 

Stanislas Wawrinka finally won his first Grand Slam in Australia this year but was disappointing at the French Open and couldn't comeback to win Wimbledon. Juan Martin del Potro won the US Open in 2009, he too failed to build upon it - though his return from injury could act as a positive. 

Breakthrough acts

Former champion John McEnroe revealed he was worried about the future of tennis with no stand-out performers coming through, but this year's Wimbledon has seen a new wave of hopefuls.

Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic - recent entrants into the rankings' top 10 - broke new ground at SW19 as they reached their maiden Grand Slam semi-finals. They will be hoping to continue their ascent at Flushing Meadows next month.

Perhaps the most shocking breakthrough act was Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios. The 19-year-old, a wildcard pick at London, defied his world ranking out of the top 100 to defeat 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in round four.

Maybe McEnroe needn't fear the future after all.