“He got tired of me,” Goran Ivanisevic reveals the real reason behind the split with Novak Djokovic

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, stunned the tennis world after announcing their split a few days ago. The two had formed one of the most successful coaching partnerships that saw Nole win 12 singles Grand Slam titles in under six years. 

With numerous other titles across the different tiers of the ATP Tour, the sudden split took everyone by surprise. Djokovic was as humble as ever, only praising the Croatian for his contribution over the last half-decade. While he did mention some ‘ups and downs’, there was nothing more said about the split. 

As fans and experts continued to debate and speculate on what could be the possible reason, Ivanisevic himself spilled the beans. The former Wimbledon champ had a long interview with Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo, where he touched upon various topics, including his breaking away from Djokovic. 

The 52-year-old shot down all the speculations about ideological differences and fighting within the camp. Instead, he explained how things got stagnant in terms of improving the Serb’s game. With 24 singles Grand Slam titles, there wasn’t much for Ivanisevic to offer that could boost Djokovic’s odds of winning titles. 

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. In any case, I didn’t feel like I could help him anymore. 

Said Goran Ivanisevic

Goran Ivanisevic is proud of his achievements with Novak Djokovic despite the Serb being labeled as the ‘greatest villain on planet’

Ivanisevic was rock solid behind Djokovic in all the professional ups and downs. This included the Serb’s refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19. While he was just exercising his right to take the jab, he was subjected to global criticism given the havoc caused by the pandemic. 

The former World No. 2 recalled the tough times. He also admitted to feeling hurt by people who speculated fights and arguments were the reason for his split with Djokovic.

Well I read a lot of those, and I repeat again, people just have to write something, unfortunately, no one was even close to getting it. People forget that period during the coronavirus, they forget that he was at one moment labeled as the greatest villain on the planet because of his vaccination status. 

Added Ivanisevic.

The coach stressed the fact that the entire stint was quite stressful and emotionally draining for both of them. While the off-court drama crippled them, they still had to fight their way on the court to the titles that they successfully managed to achieve. 

So then we weren’t allowed in this country, then that country, then we travel over here. I mean, we were always in some sort of limbo – playing, not playing, ready again, then changing restrictions that forbid us from playing and we can’t travel there. Not to mention Australia and all of that mayhem.

Concluded the Croatian.

In all, despite no more coaching the Djoker, Ivanisevic was proud of everything the duo achieved together. Not only did they take Djokovic to the top of the list for most singles Grand Slam titles, but they also broke and created other numerous records as well.

In all, despite no more coaching from the Djoker, Ivanisevic was proud of everything the duo achieved together. Not only did they take Djokovic to the top of the list for most singles Grand Slam titles, but they also broke and created numerous other records as well. 

In case you missed it:

• Dead time in matches might just fall out of ATP rules following major upcoming changes in a trial at Madrid
• “Little more Novak into his game,” Andy Roddick shares “boring” piece of advice for Carlos Alcaraz

Stay Updated!

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.

Subscribe NOW