“I was the coach of the best player in the world” Marian Vajda reveals his best moment as Novak Djokovic’s coach
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Novak Djokovic and Marian Vajda
Novak Djokovic and Marian Vajda decided to part ways after a long partnership of 15 years and shocked the entire tennis fraternity given how strong the partnership the two shared over these years. Djokovic and Vajda paired up for the first time in 2006 and except for a year-long break in 2017, the two were together on the Tour till the 2022 season.
Novak had won just 1 title when Marian took over as his coach and now leaves the Serbian with 86 career titles to his name, contributing to 85 titles. The success also saw Vajda win the ATP Coach of the Year award in 2018 and successive Best Coach in 2010 and 2011 by the Olympic Committee of Serbia.
As the two part ways, Vajda in a recent interview with Sport.SK spoke about many things about his journey with Djokovic. It also included the Slovakian coach, who is the most successful coach on the ATP Tour currently, revealing what was the best moment of his time with the Serbian who shattered records and created new ones in the process.
“There are a lot of memorable moments with him, but if I had to choose one, it would be the final against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2011. It was Novak’s first Wimbledon title and by beating No. 1 he stole his spot. Until then, only Federer and Nadal had won in London since 2002. And since 2004, only these two took turns at the top of the rankings. I was able to say for the first time that I was the coach of the best player in the world,” said Vajda during the interview.
Novak Djokovic and Marian Vajda split on a positive note
Despite having differences over the calendar in the 2021 season, both Novak and Marian decided mutually on a positive note to go their own ways. Having won 3 Slams on the trot in the 2021 season and a chance to claim the very rare Calendar Slam by winning the 2021 US Open, Marian believed the Novak could skip the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last year.
Novak however remained ambitious in getting his country an Olympic medal and participated in singles as well as mixed doubles. He was unfortunate to lose in the semi-finals in both disciplines and while he lost the Bronze medal match in the men’s singles, he chose to withdraw before the mixed doubles bronze medal match as the shoulder injury he was carrying since 2021 Wimbledon had started troubling more and he was left with no choice but to give up.
Novak had to skip the Tour events in August and returned at the 2021 US Open only to lose in the finals of the Slam being visibly exhausted from a long tiring season. These instances somewhat led to contrasting views between Novak and Marian but despite this, they end their partnership on a good note.
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