“He is from another space,” Coach Ivanisevic Says Djokovic Gave His All To Win Australian Open
“He is from another space,” Coach Ivanisevic Says Djokovic Gave His All To Win Australian Open
Novak Djokovic‘s coach claims that despite sustaining an injury that would have caused most players to withdraw, Djokovic persevered against the odds to win the Australian Open.
Goran Ivanisevic acknowledges that he was taken aback by the Serbian player’s quick recovery from his injury problems at the first Grand Slam of the year. Having a hamstring ailment when he started the competition, Djokovic was frequently spotted with leg strapping. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets on Sunday to win the championship despite the problem. He accomplished this by matching Rafael Nadal’s all-time Grand Slam record of 22 victories and becoming the first person to win the Australian Open ten times.
What did Ivanisevic say about Djokovic?
“I don’t say 100%, but 97% of the players, on Saturday when you get results of the MRI, you go straight to the referee office and pull out of the tournament. But not him,” said Ivanisevic.
“He is from another space. His brain is working differently.”
“He gave everything. 77 therapies a day. Every day was kind of better and better. I didn’t expect this. Honestly, I was shocked.”
Ivanisevic, a 2001 Wimbledon champion, became a key member of Djokovic’s group in the summer of that year and has continued to be so ever since. Seven of the Serbian’s 22 significant victories during this time occurred. Ivanisevic acknowledges that despite everything, he is still in awe of the tennis player’s skills, who will reclaim the world No. 1 ranking on Monday for the first time since June.
“You learn all the time. He’s getting crazier and crazier. It’s no end of the field of craziness. In a positive way, I mean,” he added.
“I mean, the guy is unbelievable. I don’t know how to describe it in words. I thought I saw everything, and then you see this. I’m probably going to see something else (in the future).”
How did Djokovic manage to win amidst his hamstring issue?
During his news conference, he spoke with reporters and defined each game as a battle for survival. In seven matches played during this year’s event, he only lost one set, which came in the second round against Enzo Couacaud of France.
“It required an enormous mental energy really to stay present, to stay focused, to take things day by day, and really see how far I can go,” Djokovic said.
“If I turn back the time two and a half weeks ago, I wasn’t really liking my chance in this tournament with the way I felt with my leg. Then it was just a matter of surviving every single match, trying to take it to the next round.”
Ivanisevic predicted how long Djokovic will continue competing
“Definitely two, three more years. The way he’s taking care of his body, the way he approaches everything, the food, it’s amazing. It’s unbelievable the level.” He stated.
Djokovic is the third-oldest man to win the Australian Open, following Roger Federer and Ken Rosewall.
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