Nenad Zimonjic recently revealed his role within Novak Djokovic's coaching team as his compatriot is biding his time until he hires a full-time coach.
Djokovic's backroom team has undergone a complete makeover since the second half of last season, with only a few recognizable names remaining. These are his former sparring partner Carlo Gomez-Herrera and physiotherapists Miljan Amanovic and Claudio Zimagila.
Gomez Herrera has since assumed a role as interim business agent, working alongside Mark Madden. The pair replaced Edoardo Artladi and Elena Cappellaro, who had worked with Djokovic for over a decade until they decided to go their separate ways after last year's US Open success.
In March, Djokovic announced that he had split from his coach of five years, Goran Ivanisevic, after losing to Luca Nardi in the third round of Indian Wells. It was a surprise decision, but the Croatian saw it coming.
This week, his Italian physio Marco Panichi also left. Djokovic moved to appoint Zimonjic, a former ATP doubles World No. 1 who won eight Grand Slams in that discipline, to help with mentoring and coaching him, but not as a direct replacement for Ivanisevic.
Zimonjic was part of Serbia's 2010 Davis Cup-winning team, where he was a teammate of Djokovic. He spoke for the first time to explain how they rekindled their partnership during an appearance on the Majstorija TV show.
"Novak (Djokovic) asked me: 'Can you be there for the training sessions, for the matches?' Because I know him very well."
Zimonjic was spotted supervising Djokovic's practice sessions at the start of the clay swing and traveled with him to Monaco for the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he sat in his box.
In a more recent interview, Djokovic did not rule out coaching himself for the remainder of his career, although he remains undecided. And judging by Zimonjic's tone, it looks like he will not be on the team for the long term.
"On the other hand, he is someone who has tremendous respect for me and knows how much I know. I'm glad that I was able to help, and it was a great experience for me."
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