Tennis Djokovic coach admits Wimbledon win was big surprise
NOVAK Djokovic’s coach described his Wimbledon triumph as the biggest surprise of their long partnership. The 31-year-old put two years of struggles with motivation, confidence and fitness behind him by beating Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) to win his 13th grand slam title. The presence of Marian Vajda in Djokovic’s box was no doubt a factor after the pair reunited in April. The Slovakian coached Djokovic from 2006 to May 2017, when the former world number one made the shock announcement that he had parted company with his whole team. He subsequently began working with Andre Agassi but elbow problems put him off the tour for the second half of last season and Djokovic was unable to return to anything like top form when the pair split. Djokovic had just suffered dispiriting back-to-back losses to Taro Daniel and Benoit Paire in Indian Wells and Miami when Vajda began putting the pieces back together. He said: “When we met first time I explained to him the process of self-belief, it has to be done a certain way. He understood that. We stuck to the routine. Obviously he found out he has to go through the matches and he has to really start fighting and get the mental strength.” There was not instant progress but his game began to come together on clay before a quarterfinal loss to Marco Cecchinato at the French Open, after which he said in a tetchy press conference he might not even play on grass. “He had really tough times, doubting himself,” said Vajda. “Eventually I was thinking it would take a longer time, maybe three, four, five months, maybe the US Open will be the right time. “After his terrible interview after Paris, almost not playing the grass court, he found himself right away from the first day in Queen’s. I didn’t believe so much during the (Wimbledon) semi-final he can beat Rafa (Nadal) because Rafa was mentally much better and winning grand slams but something amazing happened in the fifth set. “I didn’t expect to win Wimbledon. This is the biggest surprise from all the years I was with him.” Vajda, 53, had already taken a step back when Djokovic hired Boris Becker ahead of the 2014 season, but the split came as a shock to the tennis world. Vajda said: “I am very close to him (Djokovic) but he made a decision and I am not suffering for that. He suffered a lot but I just didn’t want to be involved for a time. It wasn’t a punishment, it’s just the way he did it. I thought Andre would really help him.” Djokovic and Vajda are taking their new partnership tournament by tournament and, although there is still no long-term contract, there seems no chance of them separating again any time soon.