'Novak Is Just Like That': Communication With Djokovic Not Culprit Behind Split Says Ivanisevic
ATPThursday, 04 April 2024 at 10:00
Novak Djokovic is an emotional tennis player, but his communication with Goran Ivanisevic wasn't the reason for their split.
The 24-time major winner parted ways with his long-time coach Ivanisevic only about a week ago, and while he didn't comment a lot since then, the Croatian coach talked to Sasa Ozmo about his relationship with Djokovic.
Ivanisevic admitted that the two became tired of each other, and while some thought that there was a specific moment when they had a disagreement and decided to split, the former Wimbledon champion rejected those claims.
"No it wasn’t now in America, I mean, it never really “occurred”. I first noticed the feeling, if I’m being completely honest, last year in America. I won’t say as far back as Wimbledon, but that Wimbledon, of course the player is always most affected, but as a coach that loss really hit hard."
Ivanisevic admitted that already after the Wimbledon final last year, he started feeling that something was not right, and despite Djokovic's success in the United States, the 52-year-old knew that their collaboration wouldn't last long.
"We then went to America, and it goes without saying, an incredible run there – that finals match against Alcaraz in Cincinnati, winning the US Open; however, that’s when I really began to feel that the end was near."
"It was only a question of whether that would be at the end of the year, or at some point in this year, and just now in America when I spoke to Novak he said something good – there is no right or wrong moment, there is only that moment when it happens, when two people agree it is time."
Relationship between Ivanisevic and Djokovic was often looked into, as the two could be seen communicating loudly during matches, but what might have seem as "turbulent" to some was normal to the Croatian.
"All in all, there was that gradual fatigue building up in me, in him, but people make out like our relationship and communication was particularly turbulent, which just isn’t true. Novak is just like that, it was the same with (Boris) Becker, and with Marian, that’s just simply how he functions."
"His communication, which we spoke about a hundred times already, on the court during a match, everything was allowed. That never even bothered me, his shouting, half of it I couldn’t even hear, I mean those are big courts, there’s a lot noise…"
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