It has been an eventful year for Novak Djokovic. Despite not winning a major title, the Serb achieved his biggest goal of winning an Olympic gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Further, he also made a major change to his coaching staff earlier this season. Djokovic parted ways with long-time coach, Goran Ivanisevic back in March this year. With this, their successful partnership spanning almost five years ended, during which Djokovic enjoyed tremendous success. Following their separation, Ivanisevic made a big move regarding his next coaching assignment, which has now received Djokovic’s backing.

A few weeks back, Ivanisevic announced that he would team up with Elena Rybakina, starting the 2025 season. Interestingly, Ivanisevic hasn’t coached any player on the WTA Tour before Rybakina and it will be a new challenge for him. However, Rybakina is a top player and has already won a Grand Slam title. Thus, Djokovic feels this pairing will bear fruit with time.

During an interview at Brisbane International, Djokovic was asked about his opinion on Ivanisevic and Rybakina working together. The Serb revealed, “Well, I was actually happy, because we talked about — you know, we actually like Rybakina, the way she plays and how she is as a person. When Goran used to work with me, we always liked to watch her play. So I was happy to hear the news that they are together.”

Further, he went on to add, “So I wish them all the best. You know, I texted Goran the other day. He hasn’t worked, I don’t think he’s ever worked on WTA Tour. Maybe he didn’t work for long time, but, you know, he was mostly on the ATP Tour. So I asked him how it feels and everything, and it’s a bit different for him, but he’s pumped to help her out, and hopefully we can see them lifting some big trophies together.”

Djokovic earlier made a shock decision to end his successful partnership with Ivanisevic via a social media post. He revealed that he had stopped working with Ivanisevic and the partnership went through ups and downs. Additionally, Ivanisevic also once admitted that it wasn’t easy to coach Djokovic. During an interview last year, Ivanisevic admitted, “He’s not an easy guy, let’s put it this way. He is not easy guy. Especially when something’s not going his way. But we are here to [offer] our back and to get beaten, you know. That’s what the team is for.” 

Nonetheless, the new partnership of Ivanisevic and Rybakina is already up and running. The legendary coach has identified some key areas of improvement in the Kazakh’s game.

Goran Ivanisevic’s early assessment of Elena Rybakina: ‘She has a big game’

After a rather quiet 2024 season, Rybakina would be raring to go in the 2025 season. She had an intriguing off-season in Dubai under the watchful eyes of her new coach, Ivanisevic. While Rybakina has rarely shown any signs of weakness, Djokovic’s ex-coach has identified some key areas of improvement for Rybakina.

During an interview at the United Cup, Ivanisevic revealed, “We worked a couple weeks in Dubai. A little bit on the serve. Trying to push her to come to the net more. She has a big game and can finish the point much earlier than she was usually doing. It’s a process. She needs to put in her head that she can play more aggressively, come to the net, and finish some points with the volleys.”

Further, Rybakina is also enjoying the new partnership. “We had a couple of weeks together, Goran’s a fun guy. I can’t say too much about our work, but we had a good preparation. Not much time has passed but I’m already getting experience from him, especially as a player, how he used to prepare,” she said.

Meanwhile, Rybakina is playing a crucial role for Kazakhstan in the United Cup, leading her nation into the quarterfinals of the tournament. It’ll be interesting to see if she can carry her form into the Australian Open next month.