Tennis legend Djokovic prepares for French Open tilt without 'friend' Ivanisevic

Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic continued his preparations for the clay court season on Thursday after announcing a split with coach Goran Ivanisevic.

Ivanisevic, who claimed the singles title at Wimbledon in 2001, joined Djokovic's team in 2019 and helped the Serb win 12 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic revealed the split with the 52-year-old on social media and posted a picture of himself and Ivanisevic playing the board game Parchisi.

"Our on court chemistry had its ups and downs, but our friendship was always rock solid," said Djokovic.

In fact, I'm proud to say (not sure he is) that apart from winning tournaments together we also had a side battle in Parchisi going on ... for many years.

"And that tournament never stops for us. Sefinjo, thanks for everything my friend. Love you."

When Ivanisevic was added to the Djokovic camp, his rivalry with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer  was in full flow.

Djokovic, 36, credited the Croatian for improving the variety and consistency of his serve.

“You also brought lots of laughter, fun, year-end No 1 rankings, record-breaking achievements and 12 more Grand Slams [and a few finals] to the count," Djokovic added.

Ivanisevic – renowned for his volatility during his playing days – never shied away from highlighting the challenges of working with Djokovic.

“He's not an easy guy, let's put it this way," he said after last year's French Open crown.

"Especially when something's not going his way. He keeps you stressed, the stress level is always high. It never goes down. But every day you learn something.”

Shock

Following a shock third round loss to the world number 96 Luca Nardi at the Indian Wells tournament in early March, Djokovic pulled out of theMiami Open to reconfigure his game and conserve his energies for the physically gruelling European clay court swing which culminates at theFrench Open in Paris at the end of May.

After claiming the 2023 French Open to become the first man to win at least three times at each of the Grand Slam tournament venues in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York, Djokovic will this year attempt to join Nadal, Bjorn Borg, Jan Kodes, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier, Sergi Bruguera and Gustavo Kuerten as the only men to successfully defend a French Open title since professional players were allowed to compete at Grand Slam events in 1968.

Victory in the singles final at the French Open – which is nicknamed Roland Garros – would allow him to eclipse the Australian Margaret Court and stand alone as the most successful singles player in tennis history with 25 titles.