Not a day goes by without Novak Djokovic focusing tennis attention. Fired from Australia for his beliefs in January, stripped of his world number one spot in February, and now separated from his historic coach in March. The Serb announced on Tuesday evening that he had ended his adventure with the Slovak Marian Vajda. An expected departure.
The two men had formed an essential tandem on the circuit since 2006. “Marian has been by my side during the most important and memorable moments of my career. Together we have accomplished incredible things and I am grateful to him for his friendship and dedication over the past 15 years. Although he is leaving the professional team, he will always be part of the family and I will never thank him enough for everything he has done,” the Serbian wrote about his ex-coach on his website.
The separation was decided this winter in November at the end of the Turin Masters, Vajda (56) wishing to spend more time with the family. In May 2017, their collaboration had experienced a first setback. Nole had chosen to separate from all his staff in order to “find the spark” and victory after a series of poor performances. A difficult phase linked to mental wear and a certain unconscious relaxation after having finally shone at Roland-Garros in 2016, the last Grand Slam that he missed. The decline had continued and Vajda had finally returned ten months later… with the success that we know. Twelve Majors before, eight after. None of the Serbian’s 20 Grand Slams has escaped this duo.
A throne to recover and a 21st Major to win
“During all that time with Novak, I was blessed to see him grow into the player he is today. I will look back on the time we spent together with immense pride and am so grateful for the success we achieved. I remain his biggest support on and off the court,” Vajda said.
Overtaken in the race for the Grand Slams by Rafael Nadal in Melbourne, Djokovic is now looking for a new lease of life. Beaten by the Czech Vesely in the quarter-finals in Dubai on February 24, he let Daniil Medvedev dislodge him from a world number one throne, which he had occupied since February 3, 2020.
While his presence at Roland-Garros in the spring is still dependent on the evolution of the epidemic situation and the vaccination pass, he is not, however, making a clean sweep. Former player Goran Ivanisevic, who arrived with him in 2019, remains in place as well as the rest of his staff. He had gradually taken the lead in recent months.
