At the end of March, tennis superstar Novak Djokovic announced his surprising separation from his coach Goran Ivanisevic. There was then a lot of speculation about the exact reasons, and unpleasant theories were also put forward. Now Ivanisevic himself has commented on his exit for the first time.
Ivanisevic said in an interview with the Serbian broadcaster “Sport Klub” that he had read a lot in the last few days about the possible reasons for his departure from Novak Djokovic’s side. But unfortunately, the sacked coach explained, not a single version was even remotely close to the truth.
The fact is that there is no “one reason” for the separation. “But one reason was actually the feeling of satiety and fatigue. It was five really difficult and intense years,” said Ivanisevic.
Djokovic the “biggest villain on the planet”
The Corona period was particularly difficult for him and Djokovic: “People forget that there was a phase during the pandemic in which he was portrayed as the biggest villain on the planet because of his vaccination status.”
“We weren’t allowed into this country, not that one. We were always in a state of limbo – playing, not playing, preparing, then the changed regulations that banned us from entering and playing. And not forgetting Australia and all that Chaos,” Ivanisevic referred to the turmoil surrounding Djokovic in the run-up to the Australian Open 2022, which ended in the Serb being temporarily arrested by the authorities and later expelled from the country because he could not officially present a valid visa.
“I couldn’t help Djokovic anymore”
Ultimately, Ivanisevic continued, his relationship with Djokovic suffered from a kind of “material fatigue”: “Just like a car regularly has to go to the workshop to be put back into shape, I was simply tired of him, and he “I got tired of myself. I had the feeling that I couldn’t help him anymore,” said Ivanisevic, describing the process that ultimately led to the separation.
The coach denied the theory that a heated argument in Indian Wells led to his retirement. He first had the feeling that it could be coming to an end last year. “There I felt that the end was near. It was just a question of whether it would be at the end of the year [2023] would happen or this year.”
Last coach-player conversation in Miami
He finally had a conversation with Djokovic in Miami. “And he said something good there: There is no right or wrong moment [für die Trennung]. There’s only that moment when it happens, when two people agree it’s time.”
“I’m glad we had this conversation. It was the only right way to do it. We sat together relaxed, laughed and talked. For me it was important to tell him how I felt. And for him it was “It’s important to say how he feels,” Ivanisevic looked back on the moment when both sides decided to go their separate ways from now on.
2024-04-05 05:00:00
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