Novak Djokovic asked about changes to his team and Jannik Sinner’s shock move
Novak Djokovic has bolstered his support staff by enlisting the services of a renowned figure ahead of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner has hired Dalibor Sirola, a strength and conditioning coach who is the Head of Performance at esteemed coach Riccardo Piatti’s tennis centre.
Sirola has worked with a star-studded list of former Piatti students, including Jannik Sinner, Maria Sharapova, Milos Raonic, Borna Coric and Ivan Ljubicic. The Croatian has also trained Alexander Zverev.
Tennis journalist Carole Bouchard has reported that Djokovic initially asked Sirola to join his team during the clay season, but the Croatian declined due to other commitments.
Sirola’s arrival for Wimbledon will help Djokovic fill the void left by the absence of two of his trusted long-term team members.
Djokovic is without physiotherapist Miljan Amanovic, who was admitted to hospital due to a serious health issue during the French Open.
Meanwhile, Gebhard Gritsch — who has spent two separate spells as Djokovic’s fitness trainer — has reportedly left his role.
The 38-year-old’s move to bring in an elite strength and conditioning coach speaks to his continued desire to maximise his physical performance.
It is the latest shakeup in Djokovic’s staff after he brought former coaches Dusan Vemic and Boris Bosnjakovic back into his team last month.
World No 1 Jannik Sinner parted ways with two former Djokovic team members — trainer Marco Panichi and physio Ulises Badio — ahead of Wimbledon.
In his pre-tournament press conference at Wimbledon, Djokovic spoke at length when asked about the challenge for players finding the right team given the recent changes he and Sinner have made.
“Both of them (Panichi and Badio) were with me, yeah,” the Serbian began. “Well, it’s quite relative the right person, definition of the right person for a certain player is. We are all different. We all have different physical constitution or mentally we’re I guess used to certain way of working.
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“Some people are a little bit more flexible mentally to maybe go out and be open-minded and learn new things and change the way they grew up, for example, of how to do fitness or how to play tennis. Some people like to keep working with people that are aligned with their style of tennis, with their physical work and stuff like this.
“There’s so many different differences with players. I did work with Marco and Uli, and I think they are phenomenal professionals that both have contributed also a lot to me, to my team, to my success.
“I don’t know what the reasons are for the split with Jannik. It came as a surprise to me as well because I think Jannik’s game and body really has improved so much in the last year, year and a half. They’ve been an integral part of that team. I don’t know, to be honest. But changes happen.
“It doesn’t necessarily only relate to your professional relationship. It could be something private. It could be many different factors that are deciding whether you want to stay working with somebody or not.
“But as somebody that also has made changes, I understand that sometimes you just are not aligned anymore in whatever of these – how can I say – avenues of thinking or whatever. Then you just split. Maybe you’re looking for something new, something different, some fresh.
“It just depends. Somebody likes to, like, be comfortable. When you have tennis or fitness coaches or physios that have been with you there for a long time, like I have, half my team has been with me for very long time, it also gives you emotional stability.
“It gives you a sense of comfort, security, and also strength in that record. So I guess it’s hard to speak in a general terms because we are all different.”
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