He fired Ivanišević. Which I must say is a suprise as I never felt Ivanišević was his "coach", he was imo sort of a friend and entourage. He was there to provide emotional support and relieve stress for Djokovic.

Right or wrong, this means Djokovic is still highly motivated to improve, he feels ne needs some new additions to his game, basically feels he's losing ground.

Can he squeeze some more success out of himself?

Who do you think will be new coach?


Becker partnership was great, and Becker actually left Djokovic once he saw Novak's focus declining after NCYGS in 2016.

So Becker, as a coach isn't entirely used, perhaps he could make a comeback. But is he then the addition Djokovic would want? I doubt.

Some mentioned Lendl, not sure about that, there's no challenge for Lendl at this stage of Djokovic's career. Djokovic has got the records and his powers are waning. It won't be enjoyable or challenging for some new supercoach to coach him.

Lendl could have been a great asset much earlier, Lendl dealt with crowd hate much better imo and could have teached Djokovic a thing or two. Show them the fingle finger *all the time as a default*, not just when you feel it. Djokovic is more authentic,
his acting on his emotions is true, but Lendl's principled position is much better I think.

Sampras was awesome but I'm not sure if he can convey anything of his own style to Djokovic.


In theory he'd need someone like himself. A huge champion who played well into his 30s and who knows what's that all about.

Federer and Nadal are not options, there's no one else who's remotely similar and it might be a wrong path anyway. There's nothing new that Djokovic can face so no point in looking for past greats.


He needs a tactical genius to squeeze out maximum out of him at this stage and that's all. Perhaps it does not need to be a former great player.

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jdeluise <[email protected]> Wrote in message:

I don't think he needs a coach. 99% of this is autopilot for him. How about Karlovic? He just officially retired. Maybe he could pump up Djok's serve and teach him a thing or two about keeping up motivation and physical fitness into the 40s.

Excellent choice!





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On 28.3.2024 8.21, *skriptis wrote:

He fired Ivanišević.

Ivanisevic has been shooting his trap for some time now. Maybe he had it coming. Anyway, like Courtsie used to say, he was basically Djok's caddie.

Federer and Nadal are not options,

I mean, really. Never hire a Fedfan as the CFO of your local Djok fan club.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0vJNp5asqc&t=18s

He needs a tactical genius to squeeze out maximum out of him at this stage and that's all. Perhaps it does not need to be a former great player.

He's a granny now. He should be focusing on enjoying family life and the
fruits of what he's accomplished. Maybe pick up knitting sweaters for
the kids and have an affair or two on the side.

--
"And off they went, from here to there,
The bear, the bear, and the maiden fair"
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On 28/03/2024 7:16 pm, *skriptis wrote:

jdeluise <[email protected]> Wrote in message:

I don't think he needs a coach. 99% of this is autopilot for him. How about Karlovic? He just officially retired. Maybe he could pump up Djok's serve and teach him a thing or two about keeping up motivation and physical fitness into the 40s.

Excellent choice!

Karlo is a surprisingly good choice given his whole career he had the
mentality of hanging in until the opportunity to use his (lone) strength presented itself. In a sense this is what Novak needs most now, just to survive long enough to win the match. Realistically he's a master of
this already, but as some of his powers start to wane he'll need a
different mindset. In a way Sampras would be a good model for him too.
He's a guy who had his eye on the big prize at the end, often letting
games go as a way to conserve energy over the long haul. Sampras also
had to find a way to get motivated to win more slams even though he
already held the record, a position Novak is in now.

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On 28/03/2024 5:21 pm, *skriptis wrote:

He fired Ivanišević. Which I must say is a suprise as I never felt Ivanišević was his "coach", he was imo sort of a friend and entourage. He was there to provide emotional support and relieve stress for Djokovic.

Right or wrong, this means Djokovic is still highly motivated to improve, he feels ne needs some new additions to his game, basically feels he's losing ground.

Can he squeeze some more success out of himself?

Who do you think will be new coach?

Becker partnership was great, and Becker actually left Djokovic once he saw Novak's focus declining after NCYGS in 2016.

So Becker, as a coach isn't entirely used, perhaps he could make a comeback. But is he then the addition Djokovic would want? I doubt.

Some mentioned Lendl, not sure about that, there's no challenge for Lendl at this stage of Djokovic's career. Djokovic has got the records and his powers are waning. It won't be enjoyable or challenging for some new supercoach to coach him.

Lendl could have been a great asset much earlier, Lendl dealt with crowd hate much better imo and could have teached Djokovic a thing or two. Show them the fingle finger *all the time as a default*, not just when you feel it. Djokovic is more authentic,

his acting on his emotions is true, but Lendl's principled position is much better I think.

Sampras was awesome but I'm not sure if he can convey anything of his own style to Djokovic.

In theory he'd need someone like himself. A huge champion who played well into his 30s and who knows what's that all about.

Federer and Nadal are not options, there's no one else who's remotely similar and it might be a wrong path anyway. There's nothing new that Djokovic can face so no point in looking for past greats.

He needs a tactical genius to squeeze out maximum out of him at this stage and that's all. Perhaps it does not need to be a former great player.

Novak at this stage should be aiming to win 1 more slam, so needs to
take it slam by slam. I think 25 is the holy grail for him at this
stage. No human has ever won 25 singles slams so he would be in a
league of his own. Yes 24 is not much different, but symbolically he
needs to actually push ahead of Margaret Court. She has stood on that
mountain on her own for 50 years and it seemed an unbreakable record,
but now she has company.

It's interesting that Margaret won her last slams in 1973, winning
AO/FO/USO. So far Novak has won his last slams exactly 50 years later,
winning the same 3 slams AO/FO/USO in 2023. Remarkably similar years,
winning the same 3 slams to both get to the record 24. Novak just needs
to put that cherry on top to finish off his goat career.

Now which slam would add most to his legacy?

AO - 11th title there would extend his lead over 6 time champs
Emerson/Federer, and match Court's 11.

FO - would equal Graf as 4 time career slammer. Next best in men's game
is 2 career slams (Laver, Emerson, Nadal) so 4 would be a big statement.

Wimbledon - would match Fed's 8 record, move past Sampras.

USO - 5th USO would match open era record of Connors/Sampras/Federer.
11th USO final would edge past those guys as they made 7/8/6 finals respectively.

My choice would be 1 more Wimbledon, I'm guessing he'd choose same.

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On 28/03/2024 8:12 pm, The Iceberg wrote:

On 28/03/2024 08:16, *skriptis wrote:

jdeluise <[email protected]> Wrote in message:

I don't think he needs a coach. 99% of this is autopilot for him. How
about Karlovic? He just officially retired. Maybe he could pump up
Djok's serve and teach him a thing or two about keeping up motivation
and physical fitness into the 40s.

Excellent choice!

yes or he could go outside of tennis and hire Michael Jordan or someone
who's won tons of stuff.

Someone who won big titles after already being at the top. Sampras is
his idol so would be nice for him to finish his career with Pete sitting
in his box as his mentor. Doubt Sampras would entertain the idea, but
would be nice if it could somehow happen : )

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On 28/03/2024 8:01 pm, Pelle Svanslös wrote:

On 28.3.2024 8.21, *skriptis wrote:

He fired Ivanišević.

Ivanisevic has been shooting his trap for some time now. Maybe he had it coming. Anyway, like Courtsie used to say, he was basically Djok's caddie.

Federer and Nadal are not options,

I mean, really. Never hire a Fedfan as the CFO of your local Djok fan club.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0vJNp5asqc&t=18s

He needs a tactical genius to squeeze out maximum out of him at this
stage and that's all. Perhaps it does not need to be a former great
player.

He's a granny now. He should be focusing on enjoying family life and the fruits of what he's accomplished. Maybe pick up knitting sweaters for
the kids and have an affair or two on the side.

He's very close to that status now, just needs to find a way to get the
25th slam, and he also wants Olympic gold. I think if he wins 1 slam
and the gold this year his motivation for next year will drop off a cliff.

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Whisper <[email protected]> Wrote in message:r

On 28/03/2024 5:21 pm, *skriptis wrote:> > He fired Ivanišević. Which I must say is a suprise as I never felt Ivanišević was his "coach", he was imo sort of a friend and entourage. He was there to provide emotional support and relieve stress for

Djokovic.> > Right or wrong, this means Djokovic is still highly motivated to improve, he feels ne needs some new additions to his game, basically feels he's losing ground.> > Can he squeeze some more success out of himself?> > Who do you think will be
new coach?> > > Becker partnership was great, and Becker actually left Djokovic once he saw Novak's focus declining after NCYGS in 2016.> > So Becker, as a coach isn't entirely used, perhaps he could make a comeback. But is he then the addition Djokovic
would want? I doubt.> > Some mentioned Lendl, not sure about that, there's no challenge for Lendl at this stage of Djokovic's career. Djokovic has got the records and his powers are waning. It won't be enjoyable or challenging for some new supercoach to
coach him.> > Lendl could have been a great asset much earlier, Lendl dealt with crowd hate much better imo and could have teached Djokovic a thing or two. Show them the fingle finger *all the time as a default*, not just when you feel it. Djokovic is
more authentic, his acting on his emotions is true, but Lendl's principled position is much better I think.> > Sampras was awesome but I'm not sure if he can convey anything of his own style to Djokovic.> > > In theory he'd need someone like himself. A
huge champion who played well into his 30s and who knows what's that all about.> > Federer and Nadal are not options, there's no one else who's remotely similar and it might be a wrong path anyway. There's nothing new that Djokovic can face so no point
in looking for past greats.> > > He needs a tactical genius to squeeze out maximum out of him at this stage and that's all. Perhaps it does not need to be a former great player.> Novak at this stage should be aiming to win 1 more slam, so needs to take
it slam by slam. I think 25 is the holy grail for him at this stage. No human has ever won 25 singles slams so he would be in a league of his own. Yes 24 is not much different, but symbolically he needs to actually push ahead of Margaret Court. She
has stood on that mountain on her own for 50 years and it seemed an unbreakable record, but now she has company.It's interesting that Margaret won her last slams in 1973, winning AO/FO/USO. So far Novak has won his last slams exactly 50 years later,
winning the same 3 slams AO/FO/USO in 2023. Remarkably similar years, winning the same 3 slams to both get to the record 24. Novak just needs to put that cherry on top to finish off his goat career.Now which slam would add most to his legacy?AO - 11th
title there would extend his lead over 6 time champs Emerson/Federer, and match Court's 11.FO - would equal Graf as 4 time career slammer. Next best in men's game is 2 career slams (Laver, Emerson, Nadal) so 4 would be a big statement.Wimbledon - would
match Fed's 8 record, move past Sampras.USO - 5th USO would match open era record of Connors/Sampras/Federer. 11th USO final would edge past those guys as they made 7/8/6 finals respectively.My choice would be 1 more Wimbledon, I'm guessing he'd choose
same.



Entertaining post.


Following 7543, Wimbledon is always the main goal.

But if you want the alternative, it's all about setting unbreakable records even if they're not at the most important event.

8 Wimbledon is not eternal imo.
So what else would be eternal and unique?



11 AO (equals women's record, but 3 behind all time, all-sex Nadal's 14 FO, but another AO would mean 15 HC slam so gets the record for most titles at a single surface)

4 FO (equals Graf's quadruple CGS, twice as good as next best men)

8 Wim (equals Federer, but still behind Navratilova all-time all-sex record)

5 USO (equals Federer with min 5 at AO/Wim/USO and increases HC slam record to 15, setting surface record, ahead of Nadal)



It's really difficult to choose?

I'd say quadruple CGS is likely to last the longest, so that would be my preferred pick but Wimbledon is so taunting too. Or any HC slam.

Wow 🤪






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Whisper <[email protected]> Wrote in message:

I'll take any slam at this stage, 25 is so close. Be nice to see him break all the records eg 9 Wim, 12 AO, 6 USO etc, but I sense the end is nigh. Age can't be held at bay too long and the young lions want their share, and Novak like all greats

start losing the desire/motivation to keep the tier 1 level going physically and mentally. He has the slam record so incredibly difficult to keep the fires raging. I feel like there is a little juice left swilling in the tank, just needs his opportunity
to strike.I can't see him winning FO, that will be his toughest hurdle I believe. I'm surprised he won FO last yr, but as I said I felt Alcaraz was getting the upper hand in that semi and could have won in 4 sets if not for the bizarre cramps. We'll
never know for sure and it doesn't matter now, just the sense I got from watching it. This yr I think Alcaraz will be a huge favorite to win it, and I suspect a few other guys can take Novak out this yr at FO eg Sinner, Rune, and even a couple of the
specialist claycourters emerging recently.Wimbledon and USO should be Novak's best chances, however the Olympics on clay is screwing up the preparations so we'll see what happens.



Excellent post once again.

I too feel Olympics might screw all of his slams this year.

And I agree that logically, clay should be tough surface at this stage.


However last year wasn't such an anomaly regarding clay. Djokovic at this stage is reaping the rewards of his clay struggles vs Nadal.

He has become truly a great claycourt player, he had to become after dueling Nadal for more than 15 years.

His technical perfection, clay demands it, vast experience, fitness and the fact clay slows things down is what enables or enabled him to be such a great claycourt player at this stage.

Alcaraz gassed himself in that semi. He was going 150%, just think of that "best point of the century" and despite that, Djokovic tied him to 1-1 in sets. Alcaraz simply cracked. He could not sustain it at 150%.

He might have won even if he was playing at "mere 100%" but as you say, we'll never know.

I agree with you. This year it's likely that Alcaraz 100% would do the job, and he would surely be able to play at 150% unlike last year.

So he's a huge favourite to win it.

But, Djokovic is surely going to be one of the 5 of 10 guys that are favourites. So he'll have a shot.

He will be focused on clay due to later Olympics. He's skipping Miami and preserving himself.



I think HC is where your age shows first. Then clay, then grass.

We're kinda fooled by the fact many older players abandon clay, but in reality, they're not suddenly obsolete on clay, they could still compete, they simply choose not to. Look at Federer reaching FO semi in 2019 and skipping clay in 2017 and 2018.





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