Agassi to work with Djokovic
ANDRE AGASSI is the man who famously claimed in his autobiography that he hated tennis, but perhaps now he has reconciled with the sport that made his name.
The eight-time grand slam winner will become the latest retired star to join the ranks of the so-called ‘supercoaches’ by hooking up with novak djokovic.
The serb announced that they would be working together at the forthcoming French Open after being beaten 6-4, 6-3 in the italian Open final by the outstanding 20-year-old talent of germany’s Alex Zverev.
The development will come as a surprise to some close to Agassi, who believe that the American — never one keen on travel — would not be willing to spend much time on the road. He is heavily committed at home in Las Vegas with his charitable foundation and the promising baseball career of his son, Jaden.
‘Andre is someone who i have tremendous respect for,’ said djokovic. ‘He’s someone who can contribute to my life on and off the court.’
earlier this month the serb cleared out his coaching staff, already shorn of Boris Becker, and has been temporarily working with his younger brother Marko.
He has been speaking with Agassi, married to steffi graf, on the phone for a couple of weeks but there does not seem to be any long-term plan.
‘We’ll see where it takes us. He will not stay the whole tournament,’ said djokovic in reference to roland garros, which starts next sunday.
‘it’s true that he has been off the circuit for the last 10 to 15 years, but i understand he knows all the players and has seen all the great matches on TV.’
in fact Agassi was already scheduled to make one of his rare appearances at a major tennis event, as he is contracted to his sponsors — swiss watchmakers Longines — to be in Paris for a couple of days.
so his commitment may not even be that of ivan Lendl to Andy Murray, with the two of them due to team up again last night in preparation for the upcoming grand slam.
A coaching duel between Agassi and Lendl would be a fascinating sub-plot. The Czech won six
of the pair’s eight meetings as players. if further appointments are needed to the djokovic team there could be a role for the canny Czech veteran radek stepanek, according to one source close to Agassi.
it remains possible that most of Agassi’s work will be as a consultant, but clearly djokovic sees him as a kindred spirit.
The serb has admitted motivational problems after winning the French Open last year, and 47-year-old Agassi had a few of those in his career, once dropping as low as 141 in the world through apathy and injury. Yesterday djokovic bemoaned his performance against Zverev, although this was the biggest confirmation yet that the rangy german is the sport’s coming man.
Meanwhile, after prolonged struggles with injury Laura robson enjoyed the biggest title of her career yesterday when she won the $60,000 lower tier tournament in Kurume, Japan, by beating fellow Brit Katie Boulter in the final. she should rise to around 170 in the rankings.