Gebhard Gritsch: A globetrotter who taught the "Djoker" efficiency
Star makers turn talented athletes into superstars: gifted doctors, mental trainers, fitness experts. Exclusively at tennisnet.com you can read an excerpt from the book "Die Starmacher" - with a portrait of the man who shaped Novak Djokovic for ten years: Gebhard Gritsch.
by Daniel Müksch
last edit: Jan 18, 2021, 02:54 pm
Novak Djokovic is angry. Mighty sour. No blow is easy for him. Everything feels like work. No trace of lightness. He just doesn't feel the yellow felt ball. Horror for a tennis player - especially for one of the best in the world. An additional sting: Roger Federer swings the racket two places next to it on the training facility in Montreal. Prances between the lines. Forehand, backhand, volley - all a fluid movement. Every stroke of the Swiss is like child's play.
“Take a look,” Djokovic hisses in the direction of his bald team member, “with Roger everything looks easy and relaxed. He invests so little in a single movement and gets so much out of it. «The person addressed is called Gebhard Gritsch and watches the training session from the far corner of the square. Inwardly, the Austrian is even happy about his protégé's frustration. For the first time during the collaboration, the Serb recognized the crux of his game - the lack of efficiency. At that time, in August 2009, the native Tyrolean has been traveling around the world with Novak Djokovic for a good six months.
In Canada, the negative mood is reflected in the result. Djokovic is eliminated in the quarter-finals against the American Andy Roddick. A disaster for the perfectionist Djokovic. Not for his new fitness trainer and advisor. At this moment of defeat, what is more important to him than the result is the self-knowledge of his protégé that input and output are not in a good relationship with him. “From then on we were in line. With Novak's talent and ambition, I was sure: Now this can be something really big. «Gritsch was proved right. But until the now 63-year-old was able to shape one of the best tennis professionals in the world into one of the best athletes of all time, his professional path took him from Austria to the Philippines and Hong Kong to New Zealand - and back to the Vienna flea market.
Gritsch is an extremely talented tennis player in his youth. Until a toboggan accident at the age of 17 destroyed the dream of a professional career. Nevertheless, he remains loyal to the sport. As a sports student, he works deeply into promoting talent. Has to disappoint many ambitious parents when he makes it clear to them that a well-acted stop has only superficially something to do with talent. After completing his studies, he worked with Günter Bresnik in Vienna's Südstadt district. The sports scientist with a doctorate learned from Bresnik that you shouldn't hesitate too long when a special opportunity arises. Not even if that means leaving family, friends and the nest that was made. He snaps and dares to jump from one day to the other to the Philippines. In Asia, Gritsch becomes one of the most sought-after tennis experts on the continent.
A few years later, love leads the father of two daughters to New Zealand, where he almost got hired as a fitness coach for the legendary "All Blacks" in rugby. But his daughters should also get to know their father's homeland - Austria. At the Vienna flea market and with Günter Bresnik, the idea was born to look after Novak Djokovic. An idea that should turn his life upside down. For ten years he accompanied the Serb on the tour. “I traveled around the world with him for 40 weeks a year,” says Gritsch, recalling the time with the Serb. »Your own life falls by the wayside. The work is incredibly intense. ”He celebrates with the Serbs Grand Slam title in series. As well as the storm at number one in the world rankings.
The Starmacher - now in stores
Why the work with Novak Djokovic came to an end after all, whether he could ever imagine working with Dominic Thiem and which player is the greatest talent of all time for him: Gebhard Gritsch reveals all of this in the book Die Starmacher von Journalist and author Daniel Müksch.
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The book Die Starmacher by Daniel Müksch is published by riva-Verlag and is now available in stores. Among other things here .