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During a visit to Switzerland, Goran Ivanisevic spoke about local tennis and his time as Djokovic’s coach.
Goran Ivanisevic has made a name for himself in tennis. Only as a successful player who reached second place in the world rankings and won Wimbledon in 2001 as a wildcard holder. And later as coach of Marin Cilic and Novak Djokovic.
Now the 52-year-old Croatian was visiting Switzerland. He promised his friend Bojan Bozovic that he would visit his tennis academy in Schlieren. Ivanisevic now fulfilled this promise and also spoke to SRF.
The fact that Ivanisevic found time to visit the Zurich agglomeration is also due to the fact that he is currently unemployed. Most recently, he looked after Djokovic for almost 6 years before the two announced their separation in March of this year.
Only victories are accepted, defeats in the final are not enough.
With Ivanisevic as coach, Djokovic had won 12 of his 24 Grand Slam titles to date. He has worked with many great tennis players, but Djokovic is the greatest, says Ivanisevic.
“It was easy and difficult at the same time,” says the Croatian. He not only had to be the Serb’s tennis coach, but also a psychologist, friend and confidant. Especially during the difficult time for Djokovic during the corona pandemic: “We had to be there for each other and stick together.” In addition, there were the Serbian’s sporting expectations: “Only victories are accepted by Djokovic, finals are not enough,” said Ivanisevic.
Djokovic and Ivanisevic missed out on the “Grand Slam”, winning all four major tournaments in one year, twice during their time together due to such a final defeat. In 2021, Djokovic lost to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final, and in 2023 Carlos Alcaraz had the upper hand at Wimbledon.
Enjoy your free time
Ivanisevic has now been without a permanent position in the tennis circuit for a little over a month. When asked about what he plans to do next, he is calm: “At the moment I’m just thinking about the European Football Championship.” He will attend games with his son and hope Croatia does well.
Ivanisevic makes no secret of the fact that he wants to enjoy a summer off. He will see in September what happens when it comes to tennis.
With me as a coach I would have won many Grand Slams.
Ivanisevic has already coached one of the best players of all time, but who else would he have liked to coach? “Myself,” is the Croatian’s answer. “With me as a coach, I would have won many Grand Slam tournaments,” the Wimbledon winner is certain. In addition to his triumph in 2001, he was in the final on the “holy turf” three more times, but lost each time.
But the former world number 2 explains that he is not a better coach than the ones he had: “I was able to learn so much from all my coaches and absorbed everything. Added to this are my experiences as a trainer on the tour. To go back with all this knowledge, wow!”
Confidence in Swiss tennis
During his visit to Switzerland, Ivanisevic also gave an assessment of Swiss tennis. You can’t expect the next Roger Federer or the next Martina Hingis, he says. It is not easy, especially in the men’s area with shining figures like Federer or Stan Wawrinka, because aspiring players are always compared to these two.
«I’m not worried about Swiss tennis. Switzerland has a good association and new players will come in the future. It won’t be Federer, but it will be someone good,” says Ivanisevic, confident about the future of Swiss tennis.
Incidentally, Ivanisevic himself played against Federer. In 2000 in London and 2001 in Milan he lost to the then up-and-coming Swiss in two sets.
2024-05-14 07:45:00
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