Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has surprisingly separated from his long-time successful coach Goran Ivanisevic. The world number one from Serbia announced this via Instagram on Wednesday. “Goran and I decided to end our collaboration a few days ago. Our on-court chemistry had its ups and downs, but our friendship was always rock solid,” Djokovic wrote.
The 52-year-old Ivanisevic has been part of the coaching team since 2018, and under him Djokovic won a total of twelve of his 24 Grand Slam titles. The Croatian himself triumphed at Wimbledon in 2001. “Thank you for everything my friend. Love you,” Djokovic wrote at the conclusion of the business relationship.
“We are there to be beaten”
Ivanisevic had always talked humorously about the collaboration. After Djokovic’s 23rd title at one of the big four tournaments, the coach reported with a wink at the French Open in Paris: “He’s not an easy boy, especially when something doesn’t go his way. But we are there to be beaten. We are here to make him feel better, perform better. Sometimes it’s not easy, sometimes it’s very complicated.”
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Things haven’t gone as usual for Djokovic so far this season. At the Australian Open in January he lost to the Italian Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, and at the Masters tournament in Indian Wells he failed in the third round due to the world number 123. Luca Nardi from Italy. He subsequently skipped the Masters in Miami and justified his cancellation by saying he had to “balance his private and professional plans”.
