Goran Ivanisevic - "Milos Raonic needs a psychiatrist"
The Wimbledon winner of 2001 will play a more prominent role alongside Novak Djokovic next season. And when looking back at former protégés, he does not mince his words.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Dec 08, 2019, 09:01 am
For money's sake, Goran Ivanisevic probably does not feel the stress of traveling on the ATP tour: The Croat earned just under 20 million US dollars in prize money during his career, but Ivanisevic knows nothing of financial problems. So it's probably the passion for tennis and the spirit of competition that drives the 2001 Wimbledon champion. And the prospects for a successful year 2020 are not bad - after all, the now 38-year-old joined the team of Novak Djokovic a few months ago.
His first contact in the Coaches Box was Marian Vajda after his return, now Ivanisevic should take a bigger role. "Novak only wants to have a coach with them," Ivanisevic told the Serbian portal Zurnal. "So Marian and I agreed that he would be in Australia and Roland Garros, and I would attend Wimbledon and the US Open. There will be a similar split at the other events as well. "Nevertheless, Ivanisevic will also travel to Melbourne for the legendary tournament.
High praise from Federer
But because he was in a good mood, Goran Ivanisevic gave some information about some of his former protégés. The best is Marin Cilic, with whom Ivanisevic won the US Open in 2014. And on the way there in the semifinals Roger Federer left no chance. "At Cilic, the most important thing was to improve service, because a 1.98-meter man has to serve better. When Federer said that no one would easily trouble him and play too fast like Marin, that was a great compliment to me. "
That's it but then already with the praise. "I worked with Berdych when his career was nearing its end. And no matter what I told him, he always answered that he could not do that. The most complicated was with Raonic. There was no communication with that. It was like a wall, I never knew if he even heard me. He needed a psychiatrist rather than a coach. "