He may be the coach of Novak Djokovic but Goran Ivanisevic has high praise for another player on the Tour.
Ivanisevic, who won the 2001 Wimbledon title, said preparing his team for their meeting against Nick Kyrgios was almost impossible. Going as far as labeling the Australian as a genius of the sport. Despite the controversy which has surrounded him over the years with various fines and even a suspended ban from the sport, Kyrgios has produced more than 20 wins over top 10 players so far in his career.
“You cannot prepare for a match against Nick Kyrgios. Nick Kyrgios is a genius, tennis genius,” said Ivanisevic. “He doesn’t know what he’s going to play next. We just concentrate on what Novak has to do, the things he has to do, the things he has to be careful of. When somebody serves like Nick Kyrgios, for me is the best server in the game by far.”
Despite the Australian’s talent, Djokovic still managed to prevail against him in the Wimbledon final after battling back from a set down. Besides winning his 21st major trophy, it is also a case of sweet revenge for the Serbian who had lost to Kyrgios twice before. In fact, the first time he managed to break his serve was during the second set of their third meeting at SW19.
Ivanisevic says the key to securing the win wasn’t to focus so much on Kyrgios and more on what Djokovic was required to do.
“It’s impossible to make a tactic against Kyrgios,” he continued.
“The key point was to concentrate on what Novak has to do, and just to stick to those little things to be ready for the big serves, for the big second serve winners.”
Weighing in how he played the match, Djokovic later explained during his press conference that another key factor was playing from the baseline and not getting drawn to the net too often.
It is unclear as to what is next in store for Ivanisevic and the former world No.1. Djokovic’s hopes of playing in America depends on if authorities relax their decision to ban unvaccinated travelers from entering the country. After his Wimbledon triumph, the 35-year-old confirmed that he still has no intention of getting a covid-19 vaccination.
“Today my holiday started. I’m going back home,” said Ivanisevic.
“A lot of crazy things are happening in the world. Every day something is changing, something new. We see what’s going to happen.”
