The fans were thrilled to be able to enjoy the Srpska Open tennis tournament in Banja Luka last week and the presence of the world's top tennis players in the city led the locals to come up with a humane idea.

Namely, a group of young men who assisted on the central court used the contact with famous tennis players in order to collect their props and autographs and to offer them to the fans at an auction. All that with a noble aim of helping the medical treatment of fellow citizen Darija Karanovic.

“It all started after a colleague asked me, after the first day of the tournament when I received a signed ball from Nole (Novak Djokovic), to try to get the same ball for him, offering me money for it,” Nemanja Maric, one of the initiators of the idea, told N1. He says that the day after, it dawned on him that someone would pay for props with the player's signatures and that this money could mean someone's life.

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He easily reached a compromise with the team, so they soon started collecting as many props as possible from a large number of tennis players. For now, they have a ball with the signature of the world number one, Novak Djokovic. Signed jersey of the tournament winner Dusan Lajovic, white jersey and cap of Andrey Rublev, and racket signed by Michael Venus.

The number of items for sale could be higher, as he managed to arrange with Djokovic's brother to provide additional props with the autograph of the great tennis player for the needs of the campaign.

For now, the campaign is focused on social networks, and as Maric told N1, the first offers are already coming. The starting bid for the tennis ball with Djokovic's signature is 300 KM.

The funds will be donated to Darija Karanovic, a woman from Banja Luka who has so far single-handedly defeated Hodgkin's lymphoma and a thyroid tumor, but needs money for an expensive medical treatment every month.

Dusan Lajovic wins Srpska Open tennis tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina

“As most of you know, my fight for life has been going on for many years and I have never asked anyone for help. I was strong, I was brave, I was a fighter. I want to remain a fighter, and now the most difficult path is ahead of me, and the battles we fight for our own lives are the most difficult,” Karanovic wrote on social networks.

“I need a medicine that costs 6 thousands marks (approx 3 thousand euro) per month in order to survive, and no one knows how long it will take to receive it. I want to ask you all to come together and help as much as you can,” she said.