Something had to happen. The way the new year has started for Novak Djokovic, some changes were on the cards sooner rather than later. There is no surprise among Djokovic’s fans over the news that Goran Ivanisevic and the 24-time grand slam winner have decided to part ways.
When the Serb won the US Open last year and equalled Margaret Court’s record of 24 big titles, he appeared to be heading towards total invincibility. But things have changed since the start of the new year. To date, he has suffered three defeats. First in the United Cup, second in the Australian Open semis and then came a defeat which would have hurt him most at Indian Wells where a player ranked 123rd in the world and lucky loser Luca Nardi stunned him in a three-setter.
Clearly, something fell out of position. Ivanisevic has turned out to be the main casualty for everything Djokovic had planned but couldn’t achieve in the early months of the new year. It may be noted that not long ago, Djoker also did away with his long-time agents.
The Croat joined Djoker and his long-time mentor Marian Vajda in 2018 and together they forged an extraordinary partnership in the history of tennis. In March 2022, Ivanisevic moved into the main coach role and helped the Serb win three grand slams in 2023 for which he was nominated for the ATP Coach of the Year. Together they won a whopping 12 grand slams since 2018. German legend Boris Becker had helped Djokovic to six grand slams previously. Their partnership ended in late 2016.
The latest split goes to show that in the world of professional sport, at the slightest dip in form, heads will roll. It was just three months without any success but at the level Djokovic is even a short unfruitful period seems very long and leads to the axing of someone. The manner in which he suffered those losses indicated something was amiss. Alex de Minaur beat him in straight sets at the United Cup. In the lead-up to the Jannik Sinner defeat in the Australian Open semis, he had alarmingly dropped three sets. And against the eventual winner, he couldn’t pose any challenge in three of the four sets. The set he won was hard-fought. Then Nardi happened out of nowhere. Nothing like Djokovic fans are accustomed to.
Ivanisevic had the reputation of a fierce server in his playing days and that would have been the biggest reason why he was brought on board. Besides, he was an achiever at the highest level having won the Wimbledon in 2001 as a wild card in the twilight of his career. He also coached Marin Cilic to his only grand slam win. One can see Ivanisevic ticked a lot of boxes for Djokovic to hire him.
“…I remember clearly the moment I invited Goran to be part of my team. It was back in 2018, and Marian and I were looking to innovate and bring some serve magic to our duo.
“In fact, not only we brought serve, but also lots of laughter, fun, year-end no1 rankings, record breaking achievements and 12 more Grand Slams (and a few finals) to the count since then. Did I mention a bit of drama too?” Djokovic said on Instagram.
On the surface, it appears a happy parting but we all know more often than not it’s not. Djokovic has credited Ivanisevic for the things they achieved together but clearly, he wasn’t needed any longer.
This year is very crucial for Djokovic. He has already spoken about how hard it has been to motivate himself in the absence of Roger Federer, who retired in 2022, and Rafael Nadal, who has played very little in the last couple of years owing to injuries. Sinner, who also beat him in the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup last year, and Carlos Alcaraz, who beat him in the Wimbledon final last year, are going from strength to strength and Djokovic looks worried. He knows he needs to ring the changes and improve before things get out of hand.
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