Former champion Goran Ivanisevic has joined Novak Djokovic’s coaching team for the first week of Wimbledon. Ivanisevic became the first and, so far, only man to win the men’s singles at SW19 as a wildcard when he achieved the feat in 2001 and he also boasts plenty of coaching experience, having worked with the likes of Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic in the past.
The Croatian is only scheduled to work with Djokovic for the first week of the championships due to prior commitments he has elsewhere, although he is already looking to shift things around so he can remain on board for the entirety of the tournament. “A bit of a sudden call came a few days ago. I was a little surprised,” Ivanisevic told Serbian news outlet sportklub.
“I travelled to Sweden. Nole wanted me to come earlier, but I had a senior tour event agreed. I came here this morning for the first training. “Unfortunately, it seems that I will be able to be there only in the first week because I have obligations again. I’m trying to postpone them, although there are so many things.”
Djokovic has enlisted Ivanisevic’s help after previously admitting that grass is his worst surface, even though he is the defending Wimbledon champion and has won at the All England Club four times in the last eight years.
“To be honest, I did struggle a little bit at the beginning, in the first couple of years of my career on the grass to really understand how I need to move on the court, how I need to adjust my swing and my game in general, tactically what I need to do,” Djokovic said. “But over the years I guess you learn how to get used to it. Just have some form of a subconscious program from before that you try to unlock and remember and use it for the season every year.”
