Goran Ivanisevic unveils Novak Djokovic’s extra weapon
The words of Goran Ivanisevic
Novak Djokovic’s coach – Goran Ivanisevic – returned to his pupil’s ATP Finals victory, drawing a balance of the season just ended.
The coach of the Serbian tennis player began in a press conference like this, “For everything that happened this year was really complicated. The victory at Wimbledon was very special, but this is no less. To finish the season like this, winning a tournament of this caliber seven years after the last time is incredible. If someone looks back and sees what happened, I think it’s normal to say that Novak deserved this title. It was not easy to be part of his team, but it paid off.”
“When you play tennis you always have to handle the pressure. Really complicated was the waiting: you can’t draw up a schedule, because first they allow you to play, then restrictions are added and it’s no longer possible. It is complicated because the only thing you want in these cases is to play, but you don’t know when or where you will be able to do it. Novak could almost have been world No. 1 with the 2,000 points from Wimbledon, let alone with the almost 8,000 he couldn’t defend,” Ivanisevic pointed out.
He then praised the Serbian tennis player’s hunger, the reason for his success: “He trains even harder than when he was 22 years old. That is the reason why he is still so strong and the reason why he will be even better. He is willing to train and improve, he takes care of his body. In my time we used to stop at 30, 31 years old: you were already considered old. But look at him, Roger until a couple of years ago, Rafa himself. We talk about the new generation and it’s beautiful, this year we also have the youngest No. 1 in history. But look at Nole, though: he’s still hungry, still winning so many tournaments and playing incredible tennis. He is already thinking about preparing for next season. As long as he maintains this state of mind, he will remain competitive at the highest level, favored to win Slams and the biggest tournaments.”
Finally, the Belgrade champion’s coach wanted to emphasize Djokovic’s greatest weapon: “Djokovic’s serve has been underrated throughout his career. Even five or ten years ago there were many matches where he relied on his serve in difficult moments. Now, however, it is even better; he always wants to improve it. This week then he has been hitting incredible percentages as well as surgical accuracy. Every time he needed it, he always got out of danger thanks to an excellent first serve. His second is also outstanding. Little is said about it, but he has one of the best serves around.”
