( dpa )- Novak Djokovic , the "third man" in world tennis, will from Monday go out to change history at the Australian Open, to deny that the fight for the top spot in 2008 will be exclusively a matter for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal .
"I'm going to go for the number 1 spot, for sure!" the Serb told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in an interview.
He confessed he would have liked to be "a profesional skier, a football player, a businessman... even a rock star."
But the showman of the ATP circuit and the great surprise of the 2007 season with his titles in Miami and Montreal and a place in the final at the US Open knows he should focus on tennis.
"I'm a very, very happy guy! It's like a dream come true, to play so well in every surface, so consistent..." he said of his breakthrough year.
"It's great for the future, I didn't expect to do so well, but I showed that I deserve this place because I'm working hard."
Unlike other players in the circuit, Djokovic is open and spontaneous.
"I always tried to be nice to everybody and make a good image about myself, but at the same time to stay natural and normal," he noted.
Of his famous impressions of other players, he stressed they are a part of him.
"Imitations are not something I'm doing now, it's something I've been doing all my life. Since a kid I have been trying to copy the other players. I was watching Sampras and all these guys on TV, and I started to copy them, I loved Sampras," he recalled.
Djokovic admitted that sometimes it is difficult to stay positive.
"Yes, there are those moments, when you don't want to practice or be with other people. But you have to. It's my life, this is what I chose. I need to work on my image, on my tennis and improve in every stage of my life," he said conscientiously.
His mother defined the young player as the "typical Serbian man, full of passion," and he agrees.
"Obviously my mother knows me better than I know myself. I think that's true, I like to be passionate and to enjoy everything I do, tennis, practicing, off the court. I like to be positive and have fun, it's my life," the player said.
This positive outlook shows when he speaks of his chances of overtaking Nadal or even Federer on the world ranking.
"Everybody has goals, I try to focus on my career and not to look on Nadal or whatever he does. I try to keep my focus on tennis and go the right way, so one day I can reach my goal of being the number one in the world. It's still a long way, because Federer is very dominant, but he is not going to be there forever," Djokovic said.
Of the world number one's plans to keep playing at least until 2012, the Serb noted that that means little.
"He is not unbeatable. Rafa won against him, me, Nalbandian ... Everybody has a right to hope for something. I was always confindent about myself, and I truly believe that I can reach the first place in the world, I wouldn't mind if is going to be in ten years, five years, two or one year. It doesn't have to be next year," he stressed.
Djokovic insisted that he would not even be disappointed if he did not make it to the top spot at all during his career.
"I would be happy, because there is something I dedicated my life to, I travelled a lot and met people, had the chance to see so many things... You have to appreciate smaller things, you can't be expecting the highest, highest, highest! You have to be satisfied with smaller things," he said.
Still, he does not give up on number one and is out to get it, but at the same time not ready to sacrifice everything for the purpose.
"I'm going to go for that goal. For sure!" he said. "I don't have to push myself over the limits. Why? I still have to live my life. I'm 20 years old, why miss all the nice things in life?" Djokovic noted.
He accepts that the year that follows the breakthrough is often the hardest.
"I will try to reduce my tournaments this year, to put even more effort in the Grand Slams and the Masters Series event. If you have a little gap between tournaments you have a little bit more time to recover, to practice and to play," he said.