It has been more than 24 hours now since Novak Djokovic made his announcement of parting ways with his long-time coach Goran Ivanisevic. Yet, news, including speculations, presumptions, and every other possible story, about it is spreading like wildfire. One such speculation is that Djokovic was not completely satisfied with Ivanisevic due to his lack of animation on the courtside.
Novak Djokovic hasn’t yet come out and spoken about the reason behind the split. But fans have picked up on subtle hints that suggest that maybe Ivanisevic was losing interest or energy or the general lack of motivation might’ve been the reason behind it.
Novak Djokovic won the US Open 2023, his last major win so far. He lost the Australian Open semi-final to Jannik Sinner, and then directly played the Indian Wells. He lost to newbie player Luca Nardi there. Things haven’t quite been right for the Serbian legend, and fans suspected something big coming up. They have also noticed Djokovic feeling dejected at times during play, and his coach not egging him on.
To put more context into this story, Goran Ivanisevic also said that Novak Djokovic isn’t an easy man to train. After the 2023 French Open, which Djokovic won, Goran Ivanisevic addressed questions in the press conference, where he gave his blunt remark on the 24-time Grand Slam winner.
“He chain us with handcuffs for 3 days, and (laughs); he’s not, he’s not easy guy. Let’s put it this way,” said Goran Ivanisevic to a reporter.
Ivanisevic focused on how stubborn Djokovic is and how neurotic he becomes when things don’t go his way. But he attributed it to his hunger and zeal to win more matches and vowed to support him. This brings to mind another coach-player duo – Rafael Nadal and Toni Nadal.
A little bit more on the personal side, Toni Nadal is Rafael Nadal’s uncle and has coached him since his nephew was a kid in 1990. It looked as if their partnership would go on forever before they parted ways in 2017. Rafael Nadal explained that it wasn’t something personal, but that his uncle i.e. Toni Nadal was tired of traveling as an aging man, and wanted out. The then-56-year-old man walked off for personal reasons, and Nadal respected his decision 100%.
However, there is a little bit of a twist in this tale since Toni Nadal later claimed that he wasn’t made to be a part of the last few tournaments Rafael Nadal played until 2017. That included the 2017 Australian Open, where Nadal reached the final. He lost to Federer 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6 in the final. This is very much similar to Djokovic and his 2024 Australian Open campaign. Although Djokovic reached the semi-final, Goran Ivanisevic seemed as if he wasn’t doing much by his side.
How does the Toni Nadal – Rafael Nadal partnership compare with Novak Djokovic – Goran Ivanisevic?
While Djokovic and Ivanisevic collaborated for 6 years, Nadal and his uncle Toni were professionally together for nearly 15 years. In that time, Nadal and his uncle won 14 Grand Slams and 70 ATP titles. Whereas, just in 6 years, Djokovic won 12 Grand Slams and 27 ATP titles under Ivanisevic. They are both impressive for their times.
These two cases were among the Top 5 coach-player duo with the most Grand Slams. It was also good that they had each other since every player, especially a star one like Djokovic and Nadal, needs an opposing personality and voice to coach them. This keeps them grounded despite achieving monumental success as players and also helps them improve with genuine advice.
To provide the latest news in the Ivanisevic-Djokovic saga, the wildcard Wimbledon winner was also absent from Djokovic’s first clay-court session in Serbia recently. Ivanisevic said nothing about it and gave no statement so far. He also hasn’t replied to Djokovic’s heartwarming Instagram post.
