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When Did Goran Ivanisevic Meet Novak Djokovic for the First Time? Exploring How Fate Sealed Their Journey Way Back in 2002

Published 01/25/2024, 9:10 PM EST

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Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic‘s coach Goran Ivanisevic is a famous name in the tennis fraternity. In a partnership for more than twenty years, Djokovic and Ivanisevic both have accomplished great milestones in professional tennis. Now that this Serbian tennis maestro is all set to play another Australian Open semifinals today, let’s get to know more about his famous coach and their very first meeting.

Ivanisevic has always been hopeful of Novak Djokovic’s performance. After Djokovic’s ATP finals win, he revealed the Serbian tennis star’s indomitable hunger for victory. However, fans are intrigued to know how these two tennis stalwarts bonded at the beginning. Let’s read more about the interesting first encounter between Novak Djokovic and his coach Goran Ivanisevic.

Novak Djokovic and his coach Goran Ivanisevic’s long-term professional collaboration is nothing less than fate

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The first meeting between Novak Djokovic and his long-term coach Ivanisevic was felicitated by Croatian tennis player Nikola Pilic. It was back in 2001 when Goran Ivanisevic won the Wimbledon Championship and Djokovic was just a teenager. Nikola Pilic said- “One day when Novak was in my academy, he was only 14 years old, I played with Goran for two hours, I told Goran: ‘Let’s play with this little guy for five minutes.’ That’s where they met for the first time.” This is the moment when Djokovic laid his first impression on the Wimbledon champion and now his coach, Goran Ivanisevic.

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Nikola Pilic further added- “They played for a full 25 minutes because Novak concentrated and played fantastically. Goran was a star for him then. It works well between them,” This is their eighth Grand Slam together and I mean, God forbid it will continue. Novak, if he is healthy, can win several more Grand Slams in the next two to three years.”

Read more: ‘Stabilises Himself Quickly’-Coach Goran Ivanisevic on Novak Djokovic’s Anger Management

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Goran Ivanisevic and Novak Djokovic’s pair has brought unbelievable records in the Serbian tennis star’s life. If it was not Ivanisevic, Djokovic could not surprise his fans at the age of thirty six with his excellent tennis skills.

Goran Ivanisevic is always proud of his pupil Novak Djokovic’s tennis skills

Ivnisevic has been an ardent admirer of his student Djokovic’s performance. After the ATP finals 2023, Ivanisevic said- “I have to thank Jannik a little bit that he gave us a little help and push for him to be in the semi-finals. But I knew as soon as he got into the semi-final, he’s going to win the tournament, The mentality changed. The new Novak Djokovic arrived on the court from Saturday. When real Novak Djokovic arrives on the court, then [in that] moment [there] is nobody that can play with him. You could see in his eyes. It’s very tough to beat Novak twice in one week in the same tournament. Today was a completely different match, completely different. Tactically Novak played completely different than on Tuesday”

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Goran Ivanisevic and Novak DJokovic’s long term tennis partnership brought the fans some epic moments in tennis. Not only the duo survived a great professional bond, they showed the world that Novak Djokovic is truly unbeatable.

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Written by:

Upasana Banerjee

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One take at a time

I began my journey as a tennis writer at EssentiallySports after 6.5 years in content creation, including both sports and non-sports topics, gaining wide-ranging expertise. To date, I have contributed more than 600 articles, in both tennis and esports.
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Edited by:

Jayant Chhabra