“Thank you for everything, my friend.” Djokovic breaks up with Ivanisevic after six years
Arina Poluyanova March 27, 2024, 14:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
We remember the story of Novak’s fruitful collaboration with the 2001 Wimbledon champion, which helped the Serbian win nine TSBs.
Novak Djokovic and Goran Ivanisevic, that’s it. On Wednesday, March 27, the world number one announced the end of his collaboration with the 52-year-old Croatian coach.
“I remember well the moment when I invited Goran to join my team. It was 2018, Vaida and I were looking for something new for our duo. In fact, working with Goran not only helped us improve our service, but also brought us a lot of joy, laughter, first places in the world rankings, records and victories in Grand Slam tournaments.
A few days ago Goran and I decided to stop working together. We have experienced ups and downs on the court, but our friendship has always been strong. Thanks for everything, friend. I love you,” Novak wrote on social media.
Novak Djokovic and Goran Ivanisevic
Photo: Sarah Reed/Getty Images
Throughout his career, Djokovic has been sensitive to his surroundings and his choice of coach. More than once, the Serbian was mentored by former tennis greats such as six-time TBS champion Boris Becker and eight-time Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi. Novak also worked with the famous Italian Riccardo Piatti and the 1978 Australian Open champion Wojtek Fiebach. Ivanisevic once became another famous coach of the Serbian tennis player: during his professional career, Goran was the second racket in the world and won Wimbledon in 2001, and then he worked with Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic.
The beginning of the cooperation between Djokovic and Ivanisevic was officially known five years ago. Before the start of Wimbledon 2019, the Serbian and the Croatian carried out joint training in London, after which the coach shared his impressions about working with Novak.
“This is recognition for me as a coach, because Novak doesn’t call just anyone, he needs to know that that person will help him. I’m glad they chose me and I’m glad Marjan [Вайда, основной тренер Джоковича] I don’t mind. The first training went very well and I hope that the cooperation will last,” Goran stated then.
At that Wimbledon, Djokovic was able to defend his title by beating Roger Federer in a powerful final (7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13:12). The beginning of collaboration with Ivanisevic turned out to be successful and promising.
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In total, during his collaboration with the Croatian, Djokovic won 24 titles, of which he won nine at the TBS, seven at the Masters and two more in the Final. Under the leadership of Ivanisevic, Novak broke several records: he won the most Grand Slams (24), Finals (7) and Masters (40) in history, and also became the first in number of weeks at the top of the ranking. ATP. .
And yet, there are several achievements that Ivanisevic and Djokovic never achieved during their time together. Novak (98 trophies) has yet to reach the number of titles of Roger Federer (103) and Jimmy Connors (109). Regarding the number of matches won, the Serbian (1094) has also not been able to surpass the Swiss (1251) and the American (1274). Goran, while mentoring Novak, never received the ATP Coach of the Year award.
Despite all this, the collaboration between Ivanisevic and Djokovic was very successful and fruitful for both. Novak noticeably improved his serve, worked on stability and adapted his game to young and dangerous opponents, and Goran gained professional experience with which he will be able to successfully continue his career as a coach.
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Now Djokovic probably needs a shakeup. The results at the beginning of 2024 clearly do not please him, and there is still a large part of the season ahead, three TSB and the Olympic Games, so important for Novak. It will be interesting to see how the Serbian transforms his team after Ivanisevic’s departure. Especially in such an important and difficult period.
