27
Djokovic Decides To Dismiss Goran
17 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
After six years and twelve Grand Slam titles earned, Novak Djokovic has decided to dismiss Goran Ivanisevic as his coach.
“Goran and I decided to stop working together a few days ago. Our on court chemistry had it’s ups and downs but our friendship was always rock solid… I remember clearly the moment I invited Goran to be part of my team. It was in 2018 and Marian (Vajda) and I were looking to innovate and bring some serve magic to our duo. In fact, not only we brought serve but also lots of laughter, fun, year end no. 1 rankings, record breaking achievements and 12 Grand Slams (and a few finals) to the count since then. Did I mention a bit of drama too? Nolefam would know… Thanks for everything my friend, love you.”
While Djokovic accomplished the most important and greatest successes of his historic career in the last six years with Goran Ivanisevic at his side, it’s known the two encountered and overcame some turbulence over the years. My sources revealed Djokovic’s extreme discipline and desire to achieve perfection on the court, could cause stress for the team and that one backhand miss during a seemingly ordinary point during a routine 62 62 victory could provoke discord and disruption of the team. But it was that kind of unimaginable obsession to be the best that propelled Djokovic above and beyond the two greatest ATP champions of all time.
So now Djokovic will move on and face the home stretch of his career with a new voice with new ideas. Some possible candidates to coach Novak include…
To be honest, I can’t think of anyone qualified to direct the career of a man who has won 24 Grand Slams. Maybe the 36 year old will re-hire somebody he is familiar with like Vajda or Boris Becker or Andre Agassi. Or pull a surprise and reach out to Ivan Ljubicic or Pete Sampras, who has said he would coach an ATP player. Marat Safin is another option.
Goran Ivanisevic Biofile interview link
Goran Ivanisevic · Novak Djokovic
Sam · March 29, 2024 at 11:36 pm
I heard that there were a couple of main reasons behind the split:
1) Goran wasn’t good at mid-match coaching, so the rule change wasn’t a great thing for their relationship.
2) Djokovic likes to be surrounded by yes-men.
Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if Goran is being scapegoated for Djokovic’s poor start this season. 🧐
Scoop Malinowski · March 30, 2024 at 8:15 am
Sam, Goran looked stressed a lot with Novak just watching him play. His head had to roll, it was time, the bad start showed a change was needed. Djokovic is ruthless, he will always pull the trigger when it’s needed and his team gets complacent and the wins stop coming. I don’t think he likes yes men. It does look like a very demanding tough job to work for a perfectionist like Djokovic. Like I said, even if he wins 62 62 and he misses a routine backhand by two inches during the match, that one miss will cause him anger and the team has to deal with it. That kind of work environment is not for everyone. It makes sense why so many of his team are long gone.
Scoop Malinowski · April 4, 2024 at 8:56 am
Goran and Novak won 12 grand slams together. I can’t think of another coach who has won that many grand slams total. Cahill? Gilbert? Mouratoglou doesn’t count.
Sam · April 4, 2024 at 4:55 pm
Djokovic is ruthless, he will always pull the trigger when it’s needed and his team gets complacent and the wins stop coming.
Scoop, how do we know it’s his team that was complacent? 🤔 Maybe it was Djokovic himself??
That kind of work environment is not for everyone. It makes sense why so many of his team are long gone.
Do you know if that’s why Vajda left?
Scoop Malinowski · April 4, 2024 at 5:06 pm
Sam, we dont know, we can speculate on what we see from the outside. Nobody is really qualified to tell the greatest tennis player, the most accomplished tennis player what to do. Agassi tried and failed to help him. Goran provided something special for five years and 12 grand slams. Truth is Nobody is strong enough or wise enough to really know what he needs when he stops winning. He has to figure it out himself. The team provides support and loyalty and bits of comments and ideas because he respects them. But technical or tactic wise, come on, Novak is near perfect as Bollettieri said. My theory is Novak has nothing to prove now, so in 2024 he’s lost that fraction of obsession, drive and will to win. The slight letdown factor from two magical but draining years 22 an 23. And that’s why he lost in AO and IW. He’s not driven to keep improving like before, he has nothing left to prove. So a change of chemistry and energy was needed and Goran was the sacrifice. What can Zimonic really tell Novak to do?
Sam · April 4, 2024 at 6:06 pm
Scoop, did you hear about this? 🤔
Novak Djokovic’s former coach has revealed the real reason for their parting of ways – naming Australia as a key factor in the move.
https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/australia-mayhem-blamed-for-novak-djokovic-coaching-divorce/news-story/cd368f3a4d618749c7a8285beebadc54
Scoop Malinowski · April 4, 2024 at 7:38 pm
Yes I saw that. The one takeaway line that stands out is, “I was tired of him, he was tired of me.” The rest is probably mostly image and damage control. The public won’t remember the incredible 12 grand slams over 5 years, and Novak gets all the credit, justly so. People will unfortunately hang on to the perception or mis-perception that Novak decided to drop Goran after a patch of subpar results. Some coaches never recover from being dropped – Tarik Benhabiles, Annacone, Navratilova, Vajda, Stefanki, even McEnroe after Raonic. Pro tennis coaching is a very unstable job, especially in wta. Ask Dmitri Tursunov.
Sam · April 8, 2024 at 10:00 pm
So a change of chemistry and energy was needed and Goran was the sacrifice. What can Zimonic really tell Novak to do?
Well, Scoop, I read elsewhere that the nail in the coffin was a big argument at Indian Wells, in which Goran was questioning Novak’s efforts during practice.
So . . . maybe Zimonic can tell him to practice harder. 😉
Sam · April 8, 2024 at 10:04 pm
Pro tennis coaching is a very unstable job, especially in wta. Ask Dmitri Tursunov.
I believe it. Just curious—who did Navratilova ever coach?
Scoop Malinowski · April 9, 2024 at 7:36 am
Sam, this is a new stage of Novak’s career, the ‘I have nothing tomorrow anymore but I still want more’ stage. Smart to enter this brave new world with a new voice.
Scoop Malinowski · April 9, 2024 at 7:37 am
Radwanska but it was very brief.
Sam · April 12, 2024 at 11:34 pm
Scoop, yes, parting ways was probably good for both guys. And Djokovic seems to be burning up in Monte Carlo! 🔥
Did Radwanska fire Navratilova?
Scoop Malinowski · April 13, 2024 at 8:38 am
Sam, Djokovic never makes a mistake on team coaching decisions, he knew it was time to go in a new direction. Regarding Aga/Martina, they never tell the real reason, in order to save the image and value of the fired coach. But obviously Aga either did not like the personal chemistry with Martina or she did not much value her advices. I’d guess it was a combination of both with an emphasis on the former. Whenever they split up quickly, which is what happened here, it means Aga learned very quickly she didn’t want Martina around. Like Maria and Jimbo.
Sam · April 18, 2024 at 6:57 am
Well, I sure wouldn’t want someone like Martina as my coach. 😉
And just curious—how often do women ever coach men?
Scoop Malinowski · April 18, 2024 at 9:01 am
Very rare. Shapo mom but shes out of the picture now. Murray mauresmo. A player in Sarasota has his mom as coach. Can’t think of any others.
Scoop Malinowski · April 18, 2024 at 2:20 pm
Wonderful match last night at Tallahassee kozlov defeated sandgren 62 67 61 after losing last week 6164 and twice previously before that. The match featured some drama but was very high quality.
Scoop Malinowski · April 19, 2024 at 9:40 pm
Kozlov into Tallahassee Challenger semis…https://www.instagram.com/reel/C59vQ5aLeQ9/?igsh=cWgyMnI2aWFkYnl0