The separation between Novak Djokovic and his coach Goran Ivanisevic has been made public.
Throughout his early and mid-30s, Djokovic experienced the most dominating phase of his career thanks to the wildly successful relationship. After working for a while with Djokovic’s longtime tutor Marian Vajda, Ivanisevic took over as the Serb’s head coach in March 2022.
The world number one posted on Instagram that he and Ivanisevic had broken up “a few days ago,” saying, ” “I remember clearly the moment I invited Goran to be part of my team. It was back in 2018, and Marian 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 more Grand Slams [and a few finals] to the count since then. Did I mention a bit of drama too? Goran and I decided to stop working together a few days ago. Our on-court chemistry had its ups and downs, but our friendship was always rock solid.”
“In fact, I am proud to say [not sure he is] that apart from winning tournaments together, we also had a side battle in [the board game] Parchisi going on … for many years. And that tournament never stops for us. Thanks for everything my friend. Love you.”
The 36-year-old Djokovic, who also recently parted ways with his longtime agents, is going through a difficult moment. He had one of his best seasons in 2023, winning three grand slam titles and losing an intense Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz. Before opting not to compete at the Miami Open, he lost his first match in the Australian Open since 2018 to Jannik Sinner. He then unexpectedly fell to Italian Luca Nardi at Indian Wells earlier this month.
Working with Djokovic presents problems, but Ivanisevic never backs down from them. After the French Open final the previous year, he said, “He’s not an easy guy, let’s put it this way. Especially when something’s not going his way. He keeps you stressed, the stress level is always high. It never goes down. But every day you learn something.”
