This dream reunion might help fix Novak Djokovic

Djokovic could bring back a former coach to help him through the rest of his career.
Clive Brunskill/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit

Novak Djokovic and long-time coach Goran Ivanisevic have decided to part ways. Ivanisevic had been with Djokovic since 2018 and his coach since 2019. 12 of the 24 Grand Slam victories the Serb has have been won while he was working with the Croatian. But as Djokovic is likely getting closer to the end of his career, he might not need a new coach who travels to tennis of tournaments with him.

He might not even need a full-time coach. Since he plays much fewer events than he did when he was younger, any coach he hires, if he does choose to hire one, would have a lot of time to do other things. Plus, Djokovic is already going to have a good idea of what works for him and what does not. This means working with someone he used to work with might make the most sense.

If any of the above paragraph is true, what might make the most sense is Djokovic re-hiring Boris Becker. Becker coached the ATP No. 1 from 2014 through most of 2016 and the pair won six major titles together as well as 14 Masters 1000 victories. Most recently, the German coached Holger Rune but that collaboration did not last even a year.

Novak Djokovic reuniting with Boris Becker might make great sense

There would be a couple of issues, of course. Becker is not allowed to travel to the United Kingdom due to his past imprisonment for tax evasion. This means the coach would not be able to help Djokovic at Wimbledon. As the Serb has won that tournament seven times, he might not need too much help.

Adding Becker might also help Djokovic prepare for the rest of his career. Ivanisevic was a great coach, but he was not the multi-time Grand Slam winner and former No. 1 that Becker was. The German might know better how to help Djokovic discover the best ending to his career.

Of course, saying all that Novak Djokovic could decide to keep playing for several more years and win many more major titles. He had a down year before in 2017 (albeit, he was younger then) and came back successfully. The point is that Djokovic can never be counted out.

Read more from Lob and Smash

manual