Struggling Djokovic splits with coach Agassi
BELGRADE: Former world No 1 Novak Djokovic has parted company with head coach Andre Agassi after struggling to rediscover his form following a long elbow injury lay-off.
“With only the best intentions I tried to help Novak. We far too often found ourselves agreeing to disagree,” American Agassi said in a statement. “I wish him only the best moving forward.”
The split leaves Djokovic’s coaching staff down to Czech Radek Stepanek, who joined on a part-time basis after eight time Grand Slam winner Agassi came on board ahead of last year’s French Open.
Djokovic, the winner of 12 Grand Slams, suffered a sharp decline in form after lifting his maiden French Open title in 2016 to complete a career Slam.
Recurring
After failing to retain his title at Roland Garros, the Serb retired against Czech Tomas Berdych in the Wimbledon quarter-finals and was sidelined for six months with a recurring elbow injury.
Following a last-16 Australian Open exit to South Korean youngster Chung Hyeon in January, the 30-yearold Djokovic had elbow surgery but has struggled to make an impact since returning to action.
He suffered successive defeats this month to Japan’s Taro Daniel in the first round at Indian Wells and to Frenchman Benoit Pare at the Miami Open, looking a pale shadow of his former vintage self.
Djokovic is due to play at the Monte Carlo Masters, which is scheduled for April 14-22.
Meanwhile, German fourth seed Alexander Zverev beat Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 6-2 to set up a Miami Open final showdown against big-serving American John Isner, who earlier overwhelmed Juan Martin del Potro.
Carreno Busta, who beat South African Kevin Anderson in the quarter-finals, gave as good as he got in the opening set but Zverev took over, sprinting through a second set in which he dominated on serve and broke his 16th-seeded opponent twice.
“I didn’t feel I was playing my best in the beginning of the first set, a lot of errors.” Zverev said. “I was down in the tiebreak and I was like, I’m losing anyway I might as well be aggressive.
“So that’s what I did, I hit a few winners, very fortunate to win the first set and then found my game in the second.”
The 20-year-old German will now set his sights on collecting his seventh career ATP Tour title and third Masters 1000 crown when he faces 14th-seed Isner in today’s final.
Zverev is 3-0 in head-tohead meetings with Isner, his most recent victory coming in last year’s Italian Open semifinal.
Earlier, Isner ended Indian Wells champion del Potro’s 15-match winning streak with a 6-1 7-6 victory over the fifthseeded Argentine to reach his first Miami final.
The players held serve in a much-tighter second set until Isner claimed the tiebreak.
Isner, who will become the top-ranked American on Monday, brought up match-point with a backhand winner down the line and then clinched with a sublime dropshot.
“I’ve just continued to keep playing better,” said Isner, who lost only 11 points on serve in the match. “I think today was even my best match. Very, very encouraging” – Reuters