This is a tennis hammer!
Novak Djokovic (34) has separated from his Slovakian coach and ex-tennis star Marian Vajda (56) for the second time! This was announced by the former world number one on Tuesday.
Reason: The deportation from Australia and the loss of world number one to the Russian Daniil Medvedev (26)!
Djokovic in a statement: “Marian has been by my side through the most important and memorable moments of my career. Together we have accomplished some incredible things and I am very grateful for his friendship and dedication over the past 15 years.”
And further: “Even if he leaves the professional team, he will always be a family and I cannot thank him enough for everything he has done.”
In the recent past, coach Vajda had withdrawn more and more since Djokovic brought Serbian ex-tennis professional Goran Ivanisevic (50) to his team in 2019.
Vajda has been at Djokovic’s side since 2006. The Slovak was also part of the coaching team under coach Boris Becker (54, 2013 to 2016), but played a smaller role in the team.
Vajda: “During my time at Novak, I was fortunate to see him transform into the player he is today. I will look back on our time together with great pride and am very grateful for the successes we have achieved. I remain his greatest support on and off the pitch and look forward to new challenges.”
What is curious, however, is that Djokovic briefly separated from coach Vajda in 2017 due to injuries and extrajudicial problems. At that time, the two found each other again after almost half a year.
Sponsor turns away too!
There is also bad news for Novak Djokovic from his main sponsor!
As the French automotive group Peugeot announced, the sponsorship contract that has existed since 2014 will be terminated due to Djokovic’s lack of a corona vaccination and the deportation from Australia.
Carlos Tavares (63), CEO of the Stellantis Group, to which Peugeot belongs: “We are not continuing the sponsorship with Djokovic.”
The company is thus reacting to the Corona drama surrounding Djokovic at the beginning of the year. After much back and forth, the Serb was banned from the Australian Open in January and sent home. Then the guesswork began as to which sponsor would be the first to separate from Djokovic.
Either way: Djokovic will probably have to reposition himself!
