Novak Djokovic's tennis journey started over two decades ago, and already early in his tennis career, he knew that he would once become the World No. 1 player.
The Serbian legend started competing professionally already in 2003. This was at the time when a certain Roger Federer won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon Championships before winning three more in 2004.
In 2006, Djokovic started working with Marian Vajda. At the time, Federer already had nine majors to his name, dominating the ATP Tour. On top of that, there was another player emerging, Rafael Nadal, who had won the 2005 and 2006 editions of the French Open.
These two seemed to be destined to dominate the Tour in the years to come, but little did they know that there was one player who had different ideas. Djokovic wanted to insert his name into the discussion, and he knew he could do that, as his former coach Vajda revealed recently.
Vajda has worked with Djokovic since 2006, and despite splitting for a short period in between, the two officially ended their partnership at the end of the 2021 season, announcing it in 2022.
The 59-year-old Slovak coach is still Djokovic's huge fan, and the two stay in contact regularly, as he revealed during RTS's Morning Program when visiting the Belgrade Open, as per Sport Alo. Vajda admitted that he watched Djokovic win the Olympics this year, and the two even talked after that.
"During those 15 years, it was truly incredible to collaborate with Novak, to be with him on his journey. Of course, now, in the last few years, I am doing other work in my country. We often exchange text messages and talk."
"We talked after the Olympics. I was in tears, and he was in tears. Everyone was in tears because he won the Olympic gold, and that was the crown of his work, of all his successes, and it was really extraordinary. Of course, the invitation to this tournament makes me very happy and evokes memories."
Looking back on their partnership, Vajda explained that their partnership wasn't just about numbers. They were one of the most successful coach-player duos in history, but for the Slovak, it was more than that.
He met Djokovic when the Serbian player was still very young, but already a 19-year-old Djokovic in 2006 claimed that he would become the World No. 1 player, as Vajda revealed.
"Of course, all this is much more than a number. I look at my cooperation with Novak as a process. Of course, when I met him, he was very young and had nothing but confidence. He told me: 'Marian, I'm going to be tennis number one.'"
Djokovic was correct. He became the World No. 1 player in 2011, and he then held the spot for a record 428 weeks, most of any player on the ATP or WTA Tour.
"When we started working, I thought it couldn't get any better. He is the best player who could have deserved it, and it was just amazing. As a coach, I saw how he was progressing, how he was training better, how he was developing, but for him the goal was to be tennis number one and win all those tournaments, Grand Slam titles."
"It's been an incredible journey, but when I look back on it now and see all those numbers, it really is an incredible achievement. I could never have imagined that he would win so many titles and tournaments and be the best in the history of tennis."