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Nov/17

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Radek Stepanek Officially Joins Team Djokovic

115 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop

Djokart

By Scoop Malinowski

Crafty Czech Republic tennis legend Radek Stepanek has officially joined forces with former ATP World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

“Its official, I’m honored to be a new member of Novak’s team,” the recently retired Stepanek said on his Instagram account. “It is a new and exciting challenge for me, which I’m looking forward to and I believe that as a team we can help Nole to reach his goals. As longtime friends off the tennis court, I believe that our friendship and similar views will translate onto the court as well and we will share some memorable moments together. so lets get to work IDEMO @djokernole.”

It will be interesting to see if the gamesmanship and trickery aspects of Stepanek’s arsenal will translate into Djokovic’s game and if Djokovic can revert back to the ruthless cutthroat super champion he was before 2016.

It’s hard to imagine a tenacious gladiator like Stepanek allowing Djokovic to continue his “love and peace” court demeanor which many pundits feel contributed to his mediocre results, along with alleged distracting personal issues regarding infidelity with his wife.

Stepanek does seem to be an appropriate choice to rejuvenate Djokovic’s vicious, ruthless nature on court, which has been mysteriously absent for most of the last two years. Stepanek was respected as a tremendous competitor, mentored by Aussie Open champion and former world no. 2 Petr Korda, to overcome early career failures to eventually develop into a top ten player, doubles Grand Slam champion, and two-time Davis Cup winning hero.

Stepanek surely has a plan of attack to restore Djokovic’s lost aura of invincibility which shocked and awed the tennis world from 2011-2015.

(Djokovic art by Andres Bella.)

· ·

115 comments

  • Front242 · December 1, 2017 at 1:49 am

    I'd say look forward to more infidelity in the future with Stepanek as his coach lol. They'll be out clubbing for hoes on a day-lee :lol6:

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 1, 2017 at 7:35 am

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Front I didn't think that will be possible as the wife is now aware and alert of her husband's tendencies and she will have the leash on. Would be surprised if that Peace and love guru Pepe Imaz is still allowed to preach his dreary dogma which hardly inspired Djokovic's results.

  • Front242 · December 1, 2017 at 8:39 am

    Novak Jock-Oh-Itch 😀

  • catherine · December 1, 2017 at 8:48 am

    Front – ‘clubbing for hoes’ ‘Jock-Oh-Itch’ ?

    Thank you for your deep and informed views on the game.

  • the AntiPusher · December 1, 2017 at 9:08 am

    I imagine Novak was doing a lot of clubbing with Boris

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 1, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    The joining forces of Djokopanek is interesting for several reasons and especially for me, because Novak and Kyrgios have bad blood based on some incident one night at a hotel party and you could sense the tension in their last two singles matches both won by Nick. Nick and Step are friendly now but they had a bump incident at Roland Garros when Nick was a teen and Nick won in straight sets. Surely Step must have some ideas on how to slay Fed, Murray, Rafa, etc.

  • Front242 · December 1, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    He'll hopefully make him s&v a bit more and mix things up better. Become more unpredictable and hopefully work on improving his godawful overheads.

  • catherine · December 1, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    The Agassi/Stepanek balance might be the most interesting aspect. The two coaches business works in some cases but not in others.
    I predict Agassi will be gone before Stepanek.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 1, 2017 at 1:56 pm

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Hiring Stepanek does not bode well for Agassi being around long term. Could easily see Agassi becoming the odd man out by June.

  • GameSetAndMath · December 1, 2017 at 4:21 pm

    I believe Agassi is still on team. But, is going to travel only for GS and some other important and convenient events. Radek will be day to day coach.

    Is Martin Vajda, still there; I guess he is not.

  • Moxie · December 1, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    This is what I read, re: Stepanek and Agassi. And I think Vajda is long gone, as of like last Feb. I don't guess he's coming back. He has a new physio, too. An Italian.

  • dan markowitz · December 1, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    Wow, the Worm and the Djoker. That is shocking. If you look at a guy like Step, he gets a job as coach of one of the top 4 players in the world a week after he retires and Spadea who was close to as good a player as Step can’t get a coaching gig to mentor Ernesto Escobedo.

    This makes me think that the Djoker is serious again hiring Step. The Step is one of the most competitive guys around, even more so than Agassi, who’s seems more like a tennis philosopher. I think the Steps will go all out to push Djoker back to his manic preparation ways and this hiring, rather than with Agassi, is a sure sign that the Djoker is hungry again.

    I can’t remember ever a player retiring one week and then starting his coaching career the next. Shocking but fascinating.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 1, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    I asked Poppa Kozlov if Agassi helped Stefan when Stefan was in Vegas for the Challenger, which he won, and he wouldn't confirm or deny, instead he asked me to ask Agassi himself. Kozlov was ripping forehands and won the title that week in Vegas, beating Broady in the final. So maybe Agassi feels on shaky ground with Djokovic? Djokovic hasn't said anything about Agassi lately and I don't think Agassi has been in Monte Carlo working hands on with Djokovic.

  • catherine · December 2, 2017 at 2:51 am

    Agassi was in LA with Djokovic a month or so ago according to pics I saw. So they’re talking.

    If there’s a kind of Lendl /Murray situation I can’t see this working with Stepanek who is a pretty forceful character and wouldn’t relish becoming a kind of glorified hitting partner. What if there’s a clash of strategies ? Is Andre being paid ?

  • Andrew Miller · December 3, 2017 at 9:05 am

    Maybe Agassi is taking to heart the possibility that his real role is helping u.s. players find their games.

    I’m still surprised about Djokovic and his off court reputation. Before he was with Jelena as his girlfriend, where she was one of the most supportive and passionate fans I think anyone has ever seen in tennis (?) he seemed like a real lady’s man.

    So consider me surprised.

    Still I hope Agassi strongly considers getting behind a few u.s. players, maybe joining forces with Gullickson and Mayotte and Washington etc.

  • Andrew Miller · December 3, 2017 at 9:08 am

    Agree on the potential for Stepanek.

    I’m not there on a Djokovic return to glory. It’s possible and he’s still great.

    A lot of this comes down to the confidence of other players. I’d think they appreciate the opportunity ahead of them to win big titles. They seem to be enjoying the vacation of the big four and slightly easier draws.

    Is the rest of the field good enough to keep Djokovic from seizing the throne again?

  • Andrew Miller · December 3, 2017 at 9:10 am

    Broady is an interesting story. I’d seen his sister hitting with Bouchard a year ago. His sister is pretty good, tall girl, big game.

  • catherine · December 3, 2017 at 1:53 pm

    Andrew – Can’t remember if I mentioned this before about the Broadys – they fell out with the LTA big time a few years ago and didn’t receive any funding help etc. Naomi is quite good but can’t see her making huge inroads now.

    Will be interesting to watch for any new developments when David Lloyd’s son takes over as LTA head in 2018.

    The Djokovic situation may turn out a little like Serena’s – and if Serena skips AO some younger opponents could have forgotten how she plays 🙂

    So no fear factor.

  • Fiero425 · December 3, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    Looked up Qatar event & it looks as if Nole will give it a go! Funny seeing him #3 seed behind Thiem and PCB! :lol6: :rolleyes: :ptennis:

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 3, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Djokovic working with Step and Agassi this week. So Agassi is involved. Expect Djokovic to come out of the gate next year with a vengeance.

  • Moxie · December 3, 2017 at 8:30 pm

    It's going to be very interesting to see how he comes out, indeed.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 3, 2017 at 9:13 pm

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    You get the sense the obsession is back with Djokovic and he knows this could be the last push, his age over 30, the body could be breaking down after so much physical long points, long matches, many matches from having won so many titles. The NEXT GEN are coming strong. Djokovic has been crushed by Kyrgios and Thiem. The aura is gone but you get the sense Djokovic has been working his you know what off to be at his best again, and now what remains to be seen is if his best is enough to dominate the sport again. Agassi and Step both have their best success after 30 so they are perfect choices to be helping Djokovic at this stage.

  • Moxie · December 3, 2017 at 10:05 pm

    Stepanek and Agassi could make a good team. But I'll wait to see if Djokovic's obsession is back until he shows it, himself.

  • Andrew Miller · December 3, 2017 at 10:19 pm

    Agassi once said never underestimate the mind and heart of a champion. Tough to know if, when the young guys will decide they’ve had enough and to go ahead and win a slam.

    We’ve seen this as Catherine knows so frequently on the women’s side of the ledger that we’ve come to some rough consensus that most champs these days are one hit wonders, a brilliant slam or maybe two and then excellent performances here and there.

    I’ve worried and likely without reason that we are heading for a period of parity on the men’s side that will look like the women’s tour – brilliant performances and few uber champs.

    If that’s the case we should probably celebrate and enjoy it. We’ve been fortunate to have the big four and two slams a piece from Nadal and Federer this year. Who saw that coming?

    If it’s Dimitrov and Goffin, slam champs in 2018, so be it.

    On the wta side I have no clue! Glad to see Sloane Stephens with the us open trophy.

  • Andrew Miller · December 3, 2017 at 10:21 pm

    Djokovic knows what it takes. Maybe the younger guys aren’t reading books like Facing Federer! I’ll never understand the dominance of the big four, ever.

  • Fiero425 · December 3, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    Moxie said:

    ↑

    Stepanek and Agassi could make a good team. But I'll wait to see if Djokovic's obsession is back until he shows it, himself.Click to expand…

    After achieving his NOLE-Slam and having another kid, maybe he lost it! I hope he can come back as strong as Fedal by taking back ownership of AO! It's one of Agassi's fave major so it should be a good barometer of where his head is at when he finally gets back on the tour! Looking forward to seeing him in Qatar! :clap: :rolleyes: :ptennis:

  • Moxie · December 3, 2017 at 10:27 pm

    It's clear that Novak lost a bit of motivation, for whatever reasons, and there seem to be a lot of them. I think that the AO is too close to see him back to full-force, but, hey, no one would have guessed that Federer and Nadal would have been top of their games by the AO last year, either. I think it will be a very interesting Oz Open, for many reasons.

  • catherine · December 4, 2017 at 2:34 am

    Andrew – like you I don’t see anything wrong with a change on the men’s circuit. Give it a bit of interest maybe. Not as though the others are no-hopers. They are actually quite good 🙂

    Sloane hasn’t done much outside US Open, which IMO she was lucky to win. As I’ve said before, it’s All About Serena until she steps on court.
    Meanwhile we’ve got Konta with a new coach, Simona clinging to No 1 and Angie with her new coach (yes yes everyone I know it’s a Djokovic thread but I don’t care.)
    Angie probably won’t win another tournament but I hope she can have some good results and be back to her plait swinging/feet flying/ball whacking self. And have a happier time on court.

    BTW – re coaching , I saw that Stan W broke the habit of meaningless flattering exchanges and expressed his distress at the way Norman appears to have dumped him at the time Stan was off with his knee surgery. A glimpse of the real feelings there behind PR.

  • Hartt · December 4, 2017 at 7:33 am

    Catherine, I was also glad to see Stan be honest about Norman leaving. Am so tired of “by mutual agreement” and “I wish (insert name of player or coach) all the best for the future.” We know perfectly well that this is rarely the case.

  • catherine · December 4, 2017 at 8:38 am

    Yes – I did my own version of those insincere exchanges on one of these threads somewhere recently – they are as you describe 🙂

    I suppose there may be legal reasons etc for this but reading between the lines in the Norman case it does seem Stan was really quite hurt and doesn’t care who knows it.

    Kerber did go so far as to say ‘it’s been tough’ referring to splitting with Beltz (for the 2nd time) but the norm is anodyne. I did hear that Konta clashed with Fisette over scheduling and I suspect Johanna likes to have her own way.

    Matches I’ll look forward to: Kerber v Konta/Kerber v Vekic. Angie’s had problems playing Vekic before.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 4, 2017 at 8:40 am

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Djokovic having both Agassi and Stepanek on the practice court already in early January shows he's dead serious. For Agassi to go all the way from Vegas to Monte Carlo on the first Day of December speaks volumes. It shows Djokovic wants him there and it shows Agassi cares and wants to be there. Every minute, every details counts. Djokovic is clearly sending a very clear message to everyone: I'm all in for 2017 and I will do everything humanly possible to dominate and destroy like I did for three years.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 4, 2017 at 8:43 am

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Andrew; I have personally given copies of Facing Federer to Kyrgios and Thiem. Did they read it, not sure. But yes I agree I think it would help any and every player, on the tour or at the park. No one will ever understand why the Fantastic Four (or Five) were able to do what they did, it was a unique era and we are all lucky to have witnessed it.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 4, 2017 at 8:46 am

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Fed and Rafa had their best years over age 30 Fiero, so it's possible and probable that Djokovic could actually have his best year in the future. Maybe he subconsciously needed a break from being at the top. It's normal. All the greats have had those off years. Djokovic had his off years, now it looks like his hunger and drive is back. I think last year really bothered him, especially those two losses to Kyrgios and the French Open flop to Thiem.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 4, 2017 at 8:49 am

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Sounds odd that Norman would dump Stan because he was displeased with Stan's time off from injury. Maybe it was a faked injury? Norman is a super nice guy. To bust Stan's you know whats for an injury hiatus seems uncharacteristic. Not buying it. Has Norman resurfaced with another player yet? If not, the whole thing sounds fishy.

  • catherine · December 4, 2017 at 10:02 am

    Scoop – do you honestly think Wawrinka would fake two ops and 8 weeks on crutches ? It was a serious cartilage problem.
    From what I read it didn’t seem that Norman departed because of the injury – might be that other things were involved and as Stan wasn’t playing Norman thought it was ok to leave. Something like that. We’ll probably never know.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 4, 2017 at 10:59 am

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    No but I find it odd that Norman just couldn't wait it out. Now Norman looks like the bad guy. Unless Norman knows the injury or surgery was not real. Maybe Norman needed to ditch Stan because he got a better offer to work with a different player like Nishikori or Thiem or Tomic or who knows. Just find this break up by Norman to leave an injured player to be odd.

  • catherine · December 4, 2017 at 11:29 am

    Yes – it is a bit odd, but as I said maybe we’ll never know the full story. But there is no way Stan’s injury and surgery was not real.

    By the way, going back to players and their tennis/non-tennis backgrounds – Djokovic is a top player who had no tennis tradition in his family.

  • Moxie · December 4, 2017 at 11:51 am

    You don't really believe that Federer and Nadal had their best years over age 30, do you? They've had some success, yes, but "best?" There's no reason to think that Djokovic doesn't still have a few more good seasons ahead of him, but I doubt any will be better than, say, his 2015.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 4, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Yes I do Moxie. Nadal never stormed through a Roland Garros draw as easily as he did last year. And Federer to me looks better, moves equal or perhaps even better, hits his backhand better and serves better now than ever before.

  • roberto · December 4, 2017 at 7:25 pm

    Moxie you sound a bit afraid that Djokovic WILL come storming back quickly lol. Scoop—hats off to Nadal for his FO win, but as you know he didn't face a lot of top 10ers.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 4, 2017 at 8:22 pm

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Roberto; Rafa handled everyone they put in front of him. That's all he can do. If the top tenners went down in flames early, maybe it's because they had one eye on a raging bull.

  • roberto · December 4, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    I agree that you can only play who is across the net. But I was reacting to your earlier comment that Rafa has never stormed thru this easily. A big reason for that is whom he had to play.

  • Moxie · December 4, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    I agree with this, Roberto…much comment was made that he lost fewest sets of any of his RG wins, but he had a retirement from Carreño Busta after PCB had only won 2 games. I still think his '08 RG performance was his best there. And no, btw, I'm not "afraid" of Djokovic coming back strong. I just don't think anyone can know how he's going to come back, and how quickly. His drop in level and mental motivation was long and mysterious, and not just a matter of injury, which we have more experience seeing players come back from. I've also said on another thread that Safin has no reason to say that Novak won't come back strong. I'm just saying we don't know.

  • roberto · December 4, 2017 at 8:54 pm

    I agree with you 100%. And Murray/Stan will be question marks, and of course everyone wonders if Roger & Rafa will duplicate their stellar year next year. Lots of intrigue.

  • Moxie · December 4, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    If nothing else, I think everyone is expecting that the AO will be pretty wild and wooly next year!

  • Front242 · December 5, 2017 at 1:57 am

    scoop said:

    ↑

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    Yes I do Moxie. Nadal never stormed through a Roland Garros draw as easily as he did last year. And Federer to me looks better, moves equal or perhaps even better, hits his backhand better and serves better now than ever before.Click to expand…

    Both Nadal and Federer were far better in the past. In the case of Federer, 2004-2007 were undisputedly his absolute best years on tour. 2008 and 2010 were Nadal's best years and he did very well in 2013 too. In all cases mentioned, both guys played better during those years and the level of competition was much better than it is now and both of them moved better in the past. This is also indisputable if you watch older matches. Federer has been slow getting to balls on his forehand side for years now and both of their forehands have noticeably declined.

  • brokenshoelace · December 5, 2017 at 2:19 am

    The idea that Nadal and Federer at their current ages are better than ever is silly.

  • brokenshoelace · December 5, 2017 at 2:20 am

    PS: Nadal storming through the FO, while very impressive, isn't as impressive as him storming through the French Open in 2008, where he dropped almost the same amount of games, also didn't drop a set, except beat Djokovic and Federer along the way.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 5, 2017 at 8:14 am

    Scoop Malinowski writes:

    THey are 1 and 2 in the world. Are you saying the rest of the field has declined too? How can you know that?

  • Front242 · December 5, 2017 at 8:58 am

    The field has been shit for the last few years.

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