Laslo Djere (born 2 June 1995) is a Serbian professional tennis player. On 10 June 2019, Djere reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 27. On 22 March 2021, he reached his career-high at world No. 346 in the doubles rankings. He is currently the No. 5 Serbian player.
He has won three ATP Tour singles titles, all on clay, one an ATP 500 event in Rio in 2019, after which he made the break-through into top 30, and at the inaugural 2020 Forte Village Sardegna Open and the 2025 Chile Open both ATP 250 events. Djere debuted on the ATP Tour at the 2013 PTT Thailand Open, where he was a wildcard. His first qualification attempt to play in the main draw at any Grand Slam was at the 2015 French Open, but his first successful attempt and main draw debut happened at the 2016 French Open. At 2018 US Open, he recorded his first Grand Slam win, defeating Leonardo Mayer in the first round.
Early life and background
Laslo Djere was born on 2 June 1995 to mother Hajnalka and father Csaba (or Čaba) Đere in Senta, then part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. His parents were Hungarians. Both of his parents died from cancer. He is a member of the Hungarian community in Serbia. Djere began playing tennis at age 5 with his father. He also has one sister named Judit. He is fluent in Serbian, English, and Hungarian. His favorite surface is clay. His idols growing up were Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Novak Djokovic. He is a supporter of the Chicago Bulls (NBA) and Seattle Seahawks (NFL).
Junior career On the junior tour, Djere won five singles titles in 10 finals (one final was canceled), while in doubles he won two titles in as many finals. In December 2012, he reached the finals in back-to-back tournaments at Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl, losing the first one (Grade 1 event) 6–0, 4–6, 5–7 to Cristian Garín despite leading 6–0, 4–1, but winning the latter more prestigious event (Grade A) over Elias Ymer 6–4, 6–4. This came after the recent passing of his mother Hajnalka. In May 2013, he played in the final of another Grade A event, Trofeo Bonfiglio, but lost to Alexander Zverev 6–7(5), 7–5, 5–7. Nevertheless, he reached a career-high combined ranking of No. 3 on 27 May 2013.
Junior Grand Slam results – Singles:
Australian Open: 1R (2013) French Open: 3R (2013) Wimbledon: QF (2013) US Open: –
Junior Grand Slam results – Doubles:
Australian Open: 2R (2013) French Open: 2R (2012, 2013) Wimbledon: 2R (2013) US Open: –
Professional career 2013–2016: ATP debut, top 200
Djere started the 2013 season, playing mainly at Futures. In July 2013, he won the Serbia F6 Futures in Kikinda, defeating Teodor-Dacian Crăciun in the final. A month later, he won another Futures at Serbia F7 in Zlatibor. In September 2013, he made his ATP main draw debut at the 2013 PTT Thailand Open, where he received entry to the main draw as a wildcard entrant. In the first round, he lost to the sixth seed Feliciano López. By the end of the year, he was runner–up at two Futures in Cyprus.
In 2014, Djere played only Futures, as well as two unsuccessful Challenger attempts. At Prosperita Open in Ostrava, he lost in the third round of qualification, losing to Marek Michalička. In May, he won the Croatia F8 Futures in Bol, defeating Mike Urbanija in the final. A week later, he won another Futures in Bosnia&Herzegovina (F2) in Prijedor. At Vicenza International, he lost in the third round of qualification, losing to Zhang Ze. In September, he won the Serbia F13 Futures in Niš. His last tournament of the 2014 season was in December, at the Senegal F2 Futures in Dakar, where he won the title, defeating Aldin Šetkić in the final.
Djere started 2015 season successfully, playing in the semifinal of Morocco Tennis Tour – Casablanca, where Javier Martí stopped him to reach his first Challenger final. In late January, he won Egypt F3 Futures in Cairo, defeating Kamil Majchrzak in straight-sets. At Dubai Tennis Championships, he made his first attempt to play at some ATP 500 Series event, but failed in the second round of qualification, losing from Lucas Pouille. At French Open, he played in qualification, trying to reach his first main-draw at any grand-slams, but lost in the first round from Nikoloz Basilashvili. In June 2015, in the final of Czech Open challenger tournament in Prostějov, he lost to No. 2 seed Jiří Veselý (ranked No. 41 at the time), while beating three other top 80 players on his way to the final, No. 1 seed Martin Kližan, No. 6 seed Dušan Lajović, and No. 7 seed João Souza, respectively. After that result, on June 8, he debuted in top 200, reaching place of 182. He also reached the quarterfinal at Aspria Tennis Cup in Milan. At US Open, he failed to reach the main-draw, losing in first round of qualification from Mathias Bourgue. By the end of the year, he played quarterfinal at Morocco Tennis Tour – Casablanca II, and semifinal at Sparkassen ATP Challenger in Ortisei.
In May 2016, he played in a Grand Slam main draw for the first time after getting through the qualifying draw at the French Open. He reached two Challenger finals during the summer of 2016.
2017–2018: Breakthrough, top 100
In January, Djere played at Australian Open qualification, but lost in second round to Ivan Dodig, missing his chance to debut in main-draw there. Later, he won title at Croatia F4 Futures in Opatija, defeating Zdeněk Kolář in final. In April 2017, Djere recorded his first ATP main draw win at the Grand Prix Hassan II over Martin Kližan, before losing to second seed Albert Ramos Viñolas. At his next tournament, the Hungarian Open, he reached his first ATP semifinal after defeating the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Viktor Troicki and Fernando Verdasco, before being defeated by Aljaž Bedene. He followed this with a quarterfinal at Istanbul Open, where he was defeated by Troicki. At French Open, he lost in second round of qualification from Oscar Otte. Following the successes on the ATP level, he played in challengers during the summer, winning one (2017 Internazionali di Perugia) and reaching three other finals, which enabled him to break the top 100 for the first time on 24 July 2017 at No. 91. In September, Djere made his Davis Cup debut for Serbia in their 2017 semifinal clash against France, losing in straight sets to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In November, he played his first ATP Masters 1000 qualification, but wasn't good enough to beat Filip Krajinović in the second round, and qualify to main-draw. He finished the year ranked No. 88.
In January, Djere finally debuted in main-draw at Australian Open, playing in first round against Ivo Karlović, but didn't make it to the second round. He had his ATP Masters 1000 debut at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open, where he was defeated by Tim Smyczek. He reached two ATP semifinals in 2018, Istanbul Open in May and Swiss Open Gstaad in July, where he defeated Borna Ćorić among others. He recorded his first Grand Slam main draw win by defeating Leonardo Mayer at the US Open, before losing to Richard Gasquet in the second round when he failed to convert all 12 of his break point opportunities. He next played a home tie against India in the Davis Cup World Group play-offs, where he defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan in the opener for his first career win in a Davis Cup match and Serbia eventually won the tie 4–0. On 24 September 2018, after making semifinal at Sibiu Open, Djere reached a then-career high of world No. 83 on 24 September 2018, that in the same time was his highest ranking until 2019.
2019: First ATP title, Major third round, top 30
In February, Djere won his first ATP title at the Rio Open, defeating Dominic Thiem in the process for the first top 10 win of his career and reached a then-career high ranking of No. 37. During the trophy presentation in Rio, Djere dedicated the title to his late parents in an emotional speech. This title, helped him enter the top 50 for the first time, climbing to World No. 37. After that he made the semifinal at 2019 Brasil Open in São Paulo, losing from Guido Pella.
He next played in Indian Wells, where he was seeded for the first time in his career in an ATP event (despite being a wildcard entrant), receiving a first round bye and then defeating Guido Andreozzi for his first Masters 1000 win, before being defeated by countryman Miomir Kecmanović in the third round, his best career showing at a Masters 1000 level. A semifinal at the Hungarian Open saw him climb to a career high of world No. 29. He next reached the third round of Madrid Masters, where he defeated Juan Martín del Potro for his second top 10 win, before losing to Marin Čilić. Winning only one match at the Rome Masters (lost in round two to Basilashvili), coupled with a few withdrawals proved to be enough for Djere to be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
At the French Open, he was seeded 31st, and had his best Grand Slam result so far. He reached the third round, winning against Albert Ramos Viñolas and Alexei Popyrin, in first two-round, before he lost from Kei Nishikori in third round.
2020: Second ATP tour title In October, Djere won the inaugural Forte Village Sardegna Open by beating home favorite Marco Cecchinato in straight sets in the finals.
2021: Second French Open third round In April, he reached the final of Sardegna Open where he lost in three tight sets against home favorite Lorenzo Sonego.
Djere reached the third round of a Grand Slam for a second time at the 2021 French Open where he was defeated by sixth seed Alexander Zverev.
2022: Fourth ATP final in Winston-Salem
Djere started his 2022 season at the Adelaide International 1. Seeded seventh, he reached the quarterfinals where he lost to third seed Marin Čilić. At the Australian Open, he was defeated in the first round by world No. 14 and eventual quarterfinalist, Denis Shapovalov.
Seeded eighth at the Argentina Open, Djere lost in the first round to compatriot, Miomir Kecmanović, in three sets. At the Rio Open, he was defeated in the first round by sixth seed and world No. 21, Lorenzo Sonego. In Acapulco, he was ousted from the tournament in the first round by third seed, world No. 4, and last year finalist, Stefanos Tsitsipas, despite having three set points in the first set. In March, he competed at the BNP Paribas Open. Here, he lost in the second round to 10th seed Jannik Sinner.
At the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters he reached the third round for the first time at this Masters and only the third time in his career at this level. He defeated Maxime Cressy, 16th seed Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets before losing to third seed and eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.
At the 2022 Winston-Salem Open he reached his fourth ATP tour final defeating David Goffin, 16th seed João Sousa, qualifier Jason Kubler, Richard Gasquet and qualifier Marc-Andrea Huesler after needing 9 match points to win.
2023: First Top-5 win, Masters fourth round, ATP 500 final Djere started his season at the Maharashtra Open. He defeated fifth seed, Alex Molčan, in the first round. He lost in the second round to qualifier Maximilian Marterer. At the ASB Classic, he stunned top seed and world No. 3, Casper Ruud, in the second round for his third Top-10 win of his career, and his first Top-5 victory. He was defeated in the quarterfinals by Constant Lestienne, despite having a match point in the second set. At the Australian Open, he got his first win at this Major event by beating qualifier Zizou Bergs in the first round. He lost in the second round to 27th seed and world No. 28 Grigor Dimitrov.