“Whatever I say will be used against me,” Novak Djokovic gets real as he discusses his exchange with his coaching staff

Novak Djokovic defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(2) in the third round of the 2024 Australian Open.

“Whatever I say will be used against me,” Novak Djokovic gets real as he discusses his exchange with his coaching staff

Novak Djokovic (Source: Imago)

Novak Djokovic is one of the most competitive players in the tennis world. Even at the age of 36, the Serb is a mentality monster and that shows in the aggression and passion that he shows on the court, which often extends to his coaching team as well. 

And it is very easy to mistake this passion for ‘toxic traits’ because of which the World No. 1 denied revealing the conversations that he has with his team during the matches, as it might be used ‘against him’. 

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I'm not so sure if it's a healthy tension, I guess they will probably tell you differently. At times it is healthy, at times it’s unhealthy. But they are the people that are with me 24x7. We go through some good times and some bad times, but it's all part of the journey. It's all part of the challenges and obstacles that we have to overcome every day.
Djokovic said in a post on-court interview

Currently, Goran Ivasinevic is Novak Djokovic’s main coach. The Croatian won the 2001 Wimbledon as a wildcard and has been on the Serb’s team since 2019. 

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In their four years of working together, they have won a total of eight Grand Slam titles, which makes the Djokovic-Ivanisevic duo extremely successful.

I'm by myself on the court but again off the court is a team effort and coaching is allowed from this year or from last year. So it's good to have a chitchat when I'm close to them but many times you don't even want to understand what we tell each other. But it's all fun when we are winning. 
Continuing further, he added

Djokovic is currently the World No. 1 in the ATP rankings and had a sensational season in 2023 where he won three Grand Slam titles, made it to the final of Wimbledon, and won seven titles in total.

The 36-year-old will hope to continue in similar or even better form this year as well, and he has gotten off to a good start at the 2024 Australian Open. 

Novak Djokovic faces Adrian Mannarino in round 4 of the 2024 Australian Open 

Novak Djokovic has been in good form in the tournament so far. He beat Dino Prizmic and Alexei Popyrin in the first two rounds, respectively, in four sets, and Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round in straight sets. 

The Serb will now face French tennis player Adrian Mannarino in the fourth round. 

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Via CNN)

Djokovic and Mannarino have faced each other a total of four times so far. The Serb has won all those matches. He won their most recent faceoff in the 2018 Cincinnati Open 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in straight sets. He is expected to replicate the result this time as well. 

The Serb could have faced Ben Shelton in the fourth round, which would have indeed been a great reboot of the heated battle that took place at the 2023 US Open.

Unfortunately, Mannarino defeated the American in the third round after a thrilling 5-set match. 

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