Former world No.1 Novak Djokovic has insisted that there is no bad blood between him and his two previous coaches, following his first round win at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The 12-time grand slam champion appeared to be back to his best on Monday with an emphatic 6-0, 6-1, win over fellow countryman Dusan Lajovic in less than an hour. Claiming 82% of the points behind his first serve and hitting a total of 19 winners. The victory is only his fourth of the season after suffering back-to-back losses in Indian Wells and Miami.
“I personally feel that I’m lacking more of the match play, more of the situations of competition, playing out points in an official match.” Said Djokovic.
“Obviously, practicing and playing practice sets is one thing. Playing an official match is completely something else, mentally mostly.”
Guiding the Serbian in Monte Carlo is Marian Vajda. The former longtime coach of Djokovic before they went their own ways in 2017. For the foreseeable future, the collaboration is only on a short-term basis. 53-year-old Vajda, who was a member of Djokovic’s team for 11 years, is a former Slovakian player who once coached his country’s Davis Cup team.
“It’s a fresh start I think for both of us. I missed him. I have a feeling that he missed me or tennis or both.” Djokovic commented about their reunion.
“But we both enjoyed a lot the last 10 days of practice we had. He knows me better than any tennis coach I’ve worked with. He’s a friend. He’s someone I can share a lot of things with, whether it’s professional or private life. He’s always there for me.”
It has been a far from perfect start to the year for Djokovic. Returning back to the tour in January following an elbow injury, he has only managed to win back-to-back matches in one tournament so far this season. On top of that, he also underwent a ‘small medical intervention’ on his elbow in February.
Trying to pinpoint the reason for his lacklustre start, the 30-year-old dismissed criticism of his two previous mentors. Although he admits that working alongside Vajda again is something that make him feel ‘safer.’
“It’s hard as a tennis player not to create that kind of chemistry because you travel so much with each other. If you do that over 10 plus years with someone, like Marian, who is the person that he is, a very humble, very genuine, liked around the tour from everyone, then the relationship becomes much more profound than a player-coach relationship.” He explained.
“The first practice we had, that’s what I felt. I felt safe on the court, I felt motivated, a lot of great things.”
No hard feelings with Agassi
Last month, Andre Agassi confirmed to ESPN that he has ended his partnership with the Serbian. An announcement Djokovic was aware of before it was made public. The American, who joined the team last May, said that the two have gone their own way due to a series of disagreements. Although Djokovic points out that the two never had a formal agreement in place in the first place. Agassi mentored on a part-time basis and never sought payment.
“We didn’t have any contract. He was not, you know, working with me officially. He was helping me out. He was really genuinely wanting to help and to give me advices and to share his experience with me.”
Shortly after Agassi’s departure, Radek Stepanek also left the coaching team after first joining at the start of the year. It was an admirable separation between the two, who remain good friends. Later in the week the Czech will travel to Monte Carlo to meet up with Djokovic.
“Radek I think is actually coming here in a few days, so I’ll be seeing him. This doesn’t affect our personal relationships that we established over the years, both with Radek and Andre.” Djokovic insisted.
So what was the trigger for ending both of those partnerships? According to Djokovic is was due to his own indecisiveness.
“We just decided that it’s better to part ways because, you know, both sides did feel that that’s best for me and for them.” He explained.
“I didn’t know in which direction I wanted to go after Indian Wells and Miami. I was, you know, questioning which way I want to move ahead. I didn’t want to keep them in, so to say, the dark in a way, being indecisive, not giving them clear indications what I’m going to do..”
Djokovic will return to action on Wednesday. In the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters he will take on Borna Coric. He is already a two-time champion of the event.
