WIMBLEDON: World No.1 Novak Djokovic has begun working alongside Goran Ivanisevic in what is the latest addition to his team.
Djokovic, who will begin his title defense at The All England Club on Monday, officially started the collaboration over the weekend. Just in time for the start of the Wimbledon championships, which Ivanisevic won back in 2001. The latest move has no impact on Marian Vajda, who remains Djokovic’s principal coach.
“I am trying to move some of my previous obligations, but I’ll probably be able to stay at Wimbledon just for the first week. Novak looks ready, his mind is clear – if everything is OK, I think he has a big chance to defend his title here.” Ivanisevic told Sasa Ozmo during an interview with Sports Klub.
It is not the first time the 47-year-old has been brought onto the tour as a mentor. He guided Marin Cilic to his only grand slam title at the 2014 US Open and previously worked alongside Milos Raonic. As a player, he won 22 ATP titles and achieved a ranking high of second in the world.
“I am delighted that they’ve chosen me and I am happy that Marian is on board with it. First practice went really well and I hope that our collaboration will last.” He said.
“This is sort of “getting to know“, although we know each other really well. We talked about my perception of his game, some technical details. We’ll work closely here and then we’ll sit down and see what happens next.”
The top seed at this year’s Wimbledon championships, Djokovic is gunning after his 16th grand slam title. Closing in on both Rafael Nadal (18) and Roger Federer (20). He has won three out of the past four major titles but came up short at the French Open. Losing to Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals.
Djokovic opted to not participate in any grass-court event prior to Wimbledon but did play at The Boodles. An exhibition event in London.
“I am fine-tuning. I’m working on my movement. I’m working on being in a right balance on the court, trying to execute the shots, take short balls, come in.” He commented on his Wimbledon preparation yesterday.
“It’s (the grass) quite different from any other styles of my specific game that I use on the other surfaces. You just have to rely more on your serve here. So you’re hoping that that part of your game will work in your favor, and you’re always looking to have free points on the serve. The more free points on serve you have, the more confident you feel, so the more pressure you can put on your opponent in the return games.”
Djokovic will start his Wimbledon bid against Germany’s Phillip Kohlschreiber on Monday. He has already defeated him in two out of their three meetings this year and leads their overall head-to-head 10-2.
