Novak Djokovic makes feelings clear as Goran Ivanisevic snubbed for ATP Coach of the Year award
Novak Djokovic expressed his disapproval at his coach Goran Ivanisevic missing out on the ATP Coach of the Year award as he declared “I guess we need to win four Slams next year.”
The great Serbian congratulated Jannik Sinner’s coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi for winning the award, but lamented the fact his achievements this year were “not enough” for his coach to be honoured.
Along with the duo of Cahill and Vagnozzi, and Ivanisevic, Juan Carlos Ferrero (Carlos Alcaraz’s coach), Bryan Shelton (Ben Shelton’s coach), and Craig Boynton (Hubert Hurkacz’s coach) were nominated for the award, which is voted on by fellow ATP coaches.
Sinner has been coached by Vagnozzi since he split with long-time coach Riccardo Piatti in February 2022, while Cahill joined his team in June 2022.
The 22-year-old had the best season of his career to date in 2023, having started the year ranked 15th, as he posted a 64-15 (81%) record and finished at a career-high ranking of world No 4.
The Italian claimed titles in Montpellier, Toronto, Beijing and Vienna, and was a runner-up in Rotterdam, Miami and at the ATP Finals in Turin. Sinner also made his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon and finished his season by leading Italy to their second Davis Cup title and first since 1976.
Djokovic, meanwhile, had one of the best seasons of his incredible career as he claimed seven titles from just 12 ATP events and won 56 of his 63 matches (88.9%).
The 36-year-old won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, while he was a runner-up at Wimbledon, losing a five-set epic to Carlos Alcaraz.
The Serbian also secured a record seventh ATP Finals title, two ATP Masters 1000 events and ended the season as world No 1 for a record-extending eighth time.
The world No 1 has won nine of his 24 Grand Slam titles since 2001 Wimbledon winner Ivanisevic joined his team in 2019.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic salutes most cherished team member in emotional end-of-season message
In a post on his Instagram story, Djokovic reacted to the news his Croatian coach had not been recognised as the best coach of 2023 after his stunning season.
#Djokovic clearly feels Ivanisevic should have been coach of the year 👇 pic.twitter.com/SubtIm3GlO
— Saša Ozmo (@ozmo_sasa) December 14, 2023
“Congratulations to Darren and Simone for a great season with Jannik. Goran, I guess we need to win 4/4 Slams in order for you to maybe (just maybe) be considered coach of the year,” the 36-year-old wrote.
“Winning Year End #1, 3 GS and WTF [World Tour Finals] and making history of this sport is not enough, my dear coach.”
Ivanisevic also missed out on the award in 2022 having been nominated, with Ferrero winning it.