He says that Serb’s Davis Cup loss to Jannik Sinner was a huge setback.
Goran Ivanisevic, Novak Djokovic’s former teacher, recently talked about why the Serb was shocked when he lost the Davis Cup to Jannik Sinner in 2023 and Serbia was then eliminated.
Djokovic played in the 2023 Davis Cup Finals with Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic, Miomir Kecmanovic, and Hamad Medjedovic, all of whom were from Serbia. They were trying to win their second title after winning the first one in 2010. But in the quarterfinals, Italy, led by Jannik Sinner, crushed their dream.
The fact that Novak Djokovic and Siner played in the event just a few days after splitting their two matches at the ATP Finals was interesting.
The World No. 1 played in the event after a busy season in 2023, and Goran Ivanisevic said, “When he plays for his country, it’s such pride, it’s such giving…” In a recent talk with Sport Klub, he said, “He doesn’t give 100%, he gives 5,700%.”
It is worth noting that team Serbia led Italy 1-0 in the three-match Davis Cup tie, thanks to Miomir Kecmanovic’s victory over Lorenzo Musetti. However, the eventual champions drew level in the second fixture when Sinner miraculously bounced back from the brink of elimination. He defeated Novak Djokovic after saving three consecutive match points – a career-first for the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
In the final doubles rubber, Jannik Sinner teamed up with Lorenzo Sonego and crushed the pair of Djokovic and Kecmanovic to book their place in the final.
Just months after Serbia’s Davis Cup setback, their 2024 United Cup squad came up short in the mixed-team event as well. That quarterfinal exit saw Novak Djokovic lose to home favorite Alex de Minaur in straight sets.
Goran Ivanisevic touched upon how the losses impacted the Serb.
“Likewise in Australia at the United Cup. It’s not a very important competition, but he would like to break the lines. These are the things that motivate him to the extreme,” he said.
“And that’s why the Davis Cup hit him so hard – your life drops, your motivation drops, you think – who’s going to do it all over again?” Goran Ivanisevic added.
Novak Djokovic’s ex-coach Goran Ivanisevic: “What happened in that semifinal with Jannik Sinner – it’s a mystery”
After working together successfully for almost five years, Novak Djokovic and Goran Ivanisevic broke up in March 2024. So, the Wimbledon winner from 2001 was there with the Serb, Hamad Medjedovic, and other people while he prepared for the 2024 United Cup in Dubai.
According to Ivanisevic, the 24-time Grand Slam winner wanted to be around other people and train with them after the Davis Cup loss at the end of the season. This was a first for Ivanisevic.
“Our plans for Dubai were very different from those of other people. In the talk above, he said, “They were the most fun.”
The Croat was sure that the exercise block went well.
“We trained phenomenally, but he needed people around him, that we were all together in the gym, to work, to have some action,” he said. “He is always alone, always the same, and I understand him completely.”
But so far in 2024, the plans made before the season haven’t paid off.
The World No. 1 lost to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of the Davis Cup and to Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of the United Cup. In the semifinals of the Australian Open, where he was trying to win an unprecedented 11th title, he lost to Sinner again.
As of now, he has lost again, this time to Luca Nardi in the third round of Indian Wells.
“What happened in that semifinal with Sinner, it’s a mystery, I don’t know what happened,” he said.
It will be the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters for Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner. They are the top two seeds there.
