Ivanisevic says split with Rybakina was 'strange' and 'sad'

Goran Ivanisevic's stint on Elena Rybakina's team was short-lived, lasting just two months. The Croatian has also reflected upon his time as Novak Djokovic's coach as well as his Wimbledon win in 2001.

Goran Ivanisevic has described the ending of his coaching partnership with Elena Rybakina as both "strange" and "sad" in an interview with the broadcaster Arena Sport.

Ivanisevic coached Novak Djokovic until the spring of 2024, and after that he briefly worked with Elena Rybakina, with whom he quickly parted ways.

Regarding the split with Rybakina, Goran said: "It was a bit strange," he told the former footballer Slaven Bilic. "I won't talk much about it, but I can say that it's a bit of a sad and strange story.

"I consider her, even before I became her coach, at least for me, to be the best tennis player in the world.," the 2001 Wimbledon winner continued. "She plays the most beautifully, she plays the simplest and I really enjoyed it.

"Unfortunately, some things happened off the court that I couldn't control and I didn't want to be a part of that and part of that story and then I decided that it was best to quit. I wish her all the best in her career."

Djokovic is a 'genius,' says Ivanisevic

Ivanisevic coached Novak Djokovic from 2019 to 2024, leading the Serb to nine major titles and the 53-year-old elaborated on the mental challengers posed by tennis.

"Tennis is an individual sport," Ivanisevic explained. "In fact, it's a gladiator sport, it just doesn't have contact. And you have to be at 300% every day. Nobody asks you about your health, nobody asks you if you feel like it. And when you come to a genius like that, I think Novak is a genius because what was good for him today, is no longer good tomorrow. Tomorrow we have to do everything again. It has to be better, you always look for something better. I'm not for him to have to change anything. You have to manage to make the best possible out of what you have."

Will Djokovic win another Slam before he retires?

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Djokovic would have a stomach ache before 'every match'

When asked by Bilic about what took Djokovic to the peak of his powers, the top of the sport, and beyond, Ivanisevic said: "Why are the best the best? Why was Federer the best, why was Novak the best? And he is a man of flesh and blood. He said it himself, before every match he has a stomachache, he is nervous in the match, but I can see that. At that moment you can see exactly that the other guy will be eaten by nervousness. He is not eaten by nervousness. He is always at his level and he emerges. That is why he is the best. That is why there is this ranking list of people who deal better with nervousness, who deal better with pressure, who deal better with these things. He is like that, one person like that is born in a hundred thousand years! He had these two guys pushing each other. Roger and Rafa (Nadal) made each other better players. It was a triangle of the three of them pulling each other. First there were these two (Federer and Nadal) and then out of nowhere came this guy (Djokovic) who I've known since I was he was 14 years old, and he messed up their whole Western theory. It all fell apart!"

Ivanisevic described just how excited he was to get the offer to coach Djokovic, a decision that he didn't need to think twice about.

"When he called me, it was like Real Madrid was calling you and asking if you wanted to come," he said. "I mean, I'm already in Madrid. I haven't even packed my bags. I'll call home, I'm in Madrid. He's an institution and the very fact that he called me means a lot to me."

Coaching before Djokovic

Speaking about his coaching experience, he emphasised that he always believed he could be a good coach, he had people around him from whom he could learn from since he was young, and later from his coaches. However, it took a certain period after his playing career, four to five years of "nothing" to prove to himself that he was ready for it and to move in that direction.

"Somehow everything turned out well when it started with Marin Čilić. And his winning the US Open, after that Tomaš Berdych, then Milos Raonic and then the cream, the icing on the cake, as we would say, the greatest tennis player of all time. It was a turbulent five years, it was interesting, it was incredible," Ivanisevic said of the period when he was Novak Djokovic's coach.

The turning point in his Wimbledon title-winning run

It couldn't have been without Wimbledon in 2001, when Goran, then the 125th player in the world, reached the very top. In the semi-final against Henman, he says, he was saved by the rain.

"I have to say that the rain saved me. When there was a break, it was simply better than me, I didn't know what to do and that rain came. It didn't come by chance. It came with a purpose. It came at that exact moment. I knew that day when we didn't return to the field...when Alan Mills came...and said - guys, you're going home, we'll continue tomorrow. I knew that was it. I told the coach - that's it, we're winning... I was getting better and better, and he was getting worse and worse," Ivanisevic recalled.