What amazes most about Novak Djokovic, beyond his enormous talent, is his perennial hunger for victories. The world number 1 has achieved the great goal of his start of the season, which is to win the ninth title at the Australian Open.
The Belgrade phenomenon, conditioned by an abdominal problem for most of the tournament, was not an easy path. The 33-year-old Serbian found his best form in the last weekend, in which he demolished the revelation Aslan Karatsev and the Russian Daniil Medvedev (whom many considered favorite on the eve of the final).
The need to recover both physically and mentally led the 18-time Grand Slam champion to forgo the Masters 1000 in Miami, with the aim of spending time with his family and being ready for the start of the campaign on red. Nole will in fact take part in the Monte Carlo tournament in mid-April, where she will also meet her eternal rival Rafael Nadal.
During a long conversation about ‘The Functional Tennis Podcast’, his coach Goran Ivanisevic explained what makes Djokovic different from all the other players he has coached in the past.
Goran Ivanisevic on pressure with Novak Djokovic
“I just think with Novak Djokovic what today is good.
Tomorrow is not good anymore it has to be better. Every day has to be better every day you have to improve, you have to you know it pushes you to be better to be a better coach and you know you just, and you see the results you know results” – Goran Ivanisevic said.
The high expectations that Djokovic has bring immense pressure as well. Ivanisevic compared the situation with that of the Spanish soccer club Real Madrid. “But it’s not easy to know you know it’s a lot of, like, Marian said ups and downs, a lot of pressure because final is not good enough.
It’s like saying you’re coaching football club Real Madrid, you know, you lose two games and they encourage you to go. They want to kick you out”. But Djokovic thrives under pressure. Ivanisevic, similar to his pupil, also thrives under pressure and called life ‘boring’ without pressure.
“So now he is institution, he is only records, records, win win win and it’s a lot of pressure, but life without pressure it’s boring”. Novak Djokovic will soon return to the court ahead of the upcoming clay-court season.
Although he has decided to skip the Madrid Masters 2021, he’ll want to defend his title at the Italian Open 2021. Will Djokovic be able to lift his second French Open title this year?