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Novak Djokovic and tennis coach Goran Ivanisevic announced last week that they have parted ways after five years of working together. This week, Ivanisevic opened up about his split from Djokovic in an interview that was published on Wednesday.
Ivanisevic spoke with Saša Ozmo of Sport Klub regarding the split. Those who were hoping for fireworks will be left disappointed.
Ivanisevic said there was no big moment that led to them parting ways. Rather, there was a mutual feeling that their coach/player relationship had run its course.
“So yes, we reached a certain level of saturation, as I like to say: ‘material fatigue,’ just as a car needs a regular service and tune up, basically I became tired of him, he became tired of me,” Ivanisevic said, according to a translation from Tennis Majors. “[I]n any case I didn’t feel like I could help him anymore. Even so, when we add it all up together, we achieved great things for ourselves and for tennis.”
Djokovic is known for yelling at his team throughout his matches. That’s part of what it means to be a member of his family or support staff cheering him on at a match. Ivanisevic said that part didn’t bother him, because he knew it was part of the job and something they agreed was allowed. But Ivanisevic admitted that the tough schedule, intense competitions and all the pair went through during the COVID shutdowns amounted to a lot during their five years together.
It didn’t help that Djokovic lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets in the Wimbledon finals last year, to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals at the Australian Open this year and to Luca Nardi at Indian Wells. All of those defeats bred discontent with Djokovic and played a role in the tennis star and Ivanisevic feeling like their time as player and coach was coming to an end.
Ivanisevic also recommended that Djokovic work with Nenad Zimonjic moving forward.
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