HELP WANTED
Struggling Djokovic fires his coaches
You’re fired. Novak Djokovic has looked nothing like his dominant self this year, so the former world No. 1 has fired his entire coaching staff three weeks before defending his French Open title.
Djokovic said he needed “shock therapy” to rediscover the “winning spark” that has eluded him this season.
Long-term coach Marian Vajda, fitness coach Gebhard Phil Gritsch and physio Miljan Amanovic join Boris Becker, who was axed at the end of 2016, as former members of Djokovic’s camp.
“I want to continue raising the level of my game and stamina and this is a continuous process,” Djok- ovic said in a statement. “I enjoy this journey, it feels like I am starting something new again and I love this challenge. I am a hunter and my biggest goal is to find the winning spark on the court again.”
The trio were there to witness Djokovic’s historic rise to stardom. The Serbian twice won three Grand Slam events in a calendar year and enjoyed a long reign as world No. 1 that was disrupted by Andy Murray at the end of last year.
The split with Vajda is especially surprising as the pair’s relationship dates back to 2006, before Djokovic won his first Grand Slam.
While the shift right before the French Open is shocking, this seems to be something that has been brewing in Djokovic’s head. Since he won at Roland Garros in June 2016, Djokovic’s play has spiraled downward, with early signs showing in his shocking loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon last year.
He admitted he had “personal issues” at Wimbledon and blamed the result on his struggle to find form, so he turned to “peace and love” guru Pepe Imaz to help get his mind back in the game. But Djokovic has yet to return to the high standard he was at before the Wimbledon slide.
Djokovic flamed out of the Australian Open in the second round, losing in five sets to journeyman and No. 117 Denis Istomin in January. Australian bad boy Nick Kyrgios dominated Djokovic in consecutive weeks in late March at Acapulco and Indian Wells.
Djokovic pulled out of the Miami Masters with an elbow problem, but his comeback was shuttered after he suffered an embarrassing loss to No. 13 David Goffin in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters in late April.
The loss to Goffin inspired the 12-time Grand Slam winner to make the changes.