‘It hit him so hard’ – Goran Ivanisevic reveals exact moment when Novak Djokovic started to lose motivation
Goran Ivanisevic has identified the defeat that “hit Novak Djokovic so hard” and resulted in the 24-time Grand Slam winner losing some of his motivation.
World No 1 Djokovic has made a stuttering start to the 2024 season as he is currently 8-3 having suffered defeats at the United Cup, the semi-final of the Australian Open and more recently the third round at Indian Wells.
On the back of his defeat at Indian Wells, Djokovic opted to skip the Miami Open and then followed it up by dropping a coaching bombshell as he announced last week that he and Ivanisevic had decided to end their working relationship.
It was a successful partnership that yielded multiple Grand Slams, ATP Finals trophies, ATP Masters titles and dozens of records.
Although the decision to part ways with Ivanisevic came following Djokovic’s troubled start this year, the 2001 Wimbledon winner believes the world No 1’s defeat to Jannik Sinner last year set off the chain of events.
Sinner defeated Djokovic twice in the space of a few weeks as he first beat the Serbian in the group phase of the ATP Finals, although the world No 1 returned the final in the final.
The Italian then got the better of Djokovic again in the Davis Cup semi-finals winning 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 before leading Italy to glory in the final against Australia.
Ivanisevic believes it is that Davis Cup loss that hit Djokovic the hardest as he was desperate to guide Serbia to a second title.
“When he plays for his country – it’s such pride, it’s such giving… He gives not 100 percent, but 5,700 percent,” the Croatian told Sport Klubb in an interview.
“Likewise in Australia at the United Cup. It’s not a very important competition, but he would like to break the lines. These are the things that motivate him to the extreme, and that’s why the Davis Cup hit him so hard – your life drops, your motivation drops, you think – who’s going to do it all over again?”
READ MORE: Goran Ivanisevic identifies moment when he began to ‘feel that the end was near’ for Novak Djokovic partnership
Despite finishing the 2023 season with a defeat to Sinner, Djokovic still enjoyed a brilliant pre-season campaign and was expected to dominate again.
However, he ran into Sinner again in the last four of the Australian Open and Ivanisevic admits no one is quite sure what happened to Djokovic on the day as he lost in four sets.
“Preparations in Dubai were totally different for us from others. They were the most fun,” the former world No 2 said. “There was also Hamad [Medjedovic), Viktor [Troicki], little Kalin Ivanovski, my son… I never played volleyball in my life, let alone soccer…
“We trained phenomenally, but he needed people around him, that we were all together in the gym, to work, to have some action… He is always alone, always the same, and I understand him completely. What happened in that semi-final with Sinner – it’s a mystery, I don’t know what happened.”
