Novak Djokovic has had a stellar career. At 36, the Serbian has a bragging footing in tennis, with 24 Grand Slam titles to his name and 40 Masters 1000 titles, including seven Nitto ATP Finals crowns. But all this wouldn’t have been achieved without a good coach.
There are plenty of coaches who have worked with Djokovic but Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion, has been a standout among all since joining forces with the Serbian in 2019. He has helped Djokovic achieve numerous accolades since then.
Who is Novak Djokovic’s current coach?
Novak Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic is a former tennis player and now a legend. He turned pro in 1988 and ended his career with 22 singles titles, including the 2001 Wimbledon title. The Croatian legend reached the final of Wimbledon in 1992, 1994, and 1998 but ended up losing on all three occasions.
Ivanisevic’s remarkable victory in 2001 Wimbledon remains the most famous in its history. The Croat was ranked 125th in the world at the time; he received a wildcard for Wimbledon in 2001 and reached the final after eliminating Marat Safin and Tim Henman in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. He then defeated Patrick Rafter in the final to win his only Grand Slam title.
Ivanisevic also won the Paris Masters and the bronze medal in both the men’s singles and doubles tournaments at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. However, the tail end of his career was derailed by injuries and he hung up his racquet in 2004 following a third-round loss to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon
The Croat joined forces with compatriot Marin Cilic in 2013 for his first big coaching gig. The duo parted ways after the conclusion of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. Ivanisevic then became part of Tomas Berdych’s entourage, starting in August 2016.
Their collaboration lasted for a year, after which they went their separate ways. On June 30, 2019, Novak Djokovic added Goran Ivanisevic to his coaching team as well. The partnership was an immediate success, with the Serb winning Wimbledon a few weeks later. This season, Djokovic won seven titles, including three Grand Slam titles out of a possible four.
Novak Djokovic left upset by ATP awards
Novak Djokovic was left out of the ATP Awards again. The Serbian has not won the award in his career. Jannik Sinner won the Fans’ Favourite singles player in the ATP Awards, having capped his career-best ATP Tour season in style.
The prestigious award, also known as the fan’s favorite award, is handed out to the most popular player on the court and despite the Serbian being a three-grand Slam champion this season and winning the Nitto ATP Finals, he is consistently overlooked when the award is given. Last year, Casper Rudd broke the dominance of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the winners list. Federer has won the award 19 times, Nadal on five occasions, and Novak Djokovic is yet to win any.
On Instagram Djokovic wrote about Goran Ivanisevic not included in the ATP Coach of the Year Award: “Goran, I guess we need to win 4/4 slams in order for you to maybe (just maybe) be considered coach of the year. Winning Year-End No.1, 3GS, WTF and making history of this sport is not enough dear coach.”
Roger Federer won the ATP Fans’ Favorite Award from 2003 to 2021, with his unbroken run of wins highlighting his relentless popularity in the game. With Federer retired and Nadal missing the season through injury, Djokovic was easily fancied to have his chances of getting in the mix for this prize, but he was not mentioned again.
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