Goran Ivanisevic discloses what brings out the ‘worst’ in Novak Djokovic as the Serb continues to cement his place as the undisputed GOAT
Goran Ivanisevic has been Djokovic's coach since 2019.
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Goran Ivanisevic and Novak Djokovic (L), Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (R) (Sources: Imago/AP)
Croatian former tennis player Goran Ivanisevic, who has been the coach of Novak Djokovic since 2019, recently made a statement on the rivalry between the Big-3 of tennis, i.e., Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. He said that the Serbian has highly profited from their rivalry as these players constantly kept pushing each other.
“He is a champion, a man always motivated. He is lucky to have known players like Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer, because they pushed themselves, even though he is a born winner. When you tell him he can’t do something, it’s even worse, he will do everything to try to prove you wrong,” Ivanisevic said.
He further said, “He doesn’t make excuses. He always tries to find a way to win, to fight, even when he doesn’t feel good, whether he’s injured or not.” (H/T: welovetennis)
Well, Federer has already retired, and Nadal is on the verge of retiring as he has already hinted that he will be playing his last season in 2024. Thus, Novak Djokovic has practically ended up being the better player in the Big-3, at least as far as the statistics are concerned. Thus, it can be correctly said that the Serbian benefited from the Big-3 rivalry the most.
The Serb won his 24th Grand Slam by defeating Daniil Medvedev in the 2023 US Open final. He had already exceeded Roger Federer’s Grand Slam tally of 20 and Rafael Nadal’s 22 a long time ago and now he is just trying to better his own record. The Serb will undoubtedly go down as the most decorated tennis player in the history of the sport.
Goran Ivanisevic and Novak Djokovic’s relationship
Ivanisevic has been Djokovic’s coach since 2019. The Croatian was once a great player himself. He won the 2001 Wimbledon Open as a wildcard and has to date been the only player to achieve this phenomenal feat. His contribution to Novak Djokovic’s success has been immense. He is the third coach that the Serbian has had after Marian Vajda and Boris Becker and the fact that they have been together for over 4 years now says how good their chemistry is.
Since 2019, he has made it to 13 Grand Slam finals and won 10 of them. It goes on to show that this player-coach duo is immensely successful. The two are often seen having verbal altercations during matches, but they leave it on the court itself and focus on the results.
In case you missed it:
- Novak Djokovic admits he doesn’t miss Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the Tour as Nole steadies his position in race for most Grand Slam titles
- Andrey Rublev identifies his weaker areas that have resulted in him suffering nine straight quarter-final defeats at the Grand Slams
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Rishab Dutta
(794 Articles Published)