The worst-kept secret of the last two weeks was confirmed by Novak Djokovic on Sunday: Andre Agassi is his new coach.
For how long remains to be seen, but the partnership will begin at least on a trial basis at the upcoming French Open.
“That’s what I wanted to let you guys know,” Djokovic said at his press conference following a loss to Alexander Zverev in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. “I spoke to Andre the last couple weeks on the phone and we decided to get together in Paris. So he’s going to be there. We’ll see what future brings. We are both excited to work together and see where it takes us.
“We don’t have any long-term commitment. It’s just us trying to get to know each other in Paris a little bit. He will not stay the whole tournament; he’s going to stay only to a certain time and then we’ll see after that what’s going to happen.
“Obviously, Andre is someone that I have tremendous respect for as a person and as a player. He has been through everything that I’m going through.”
Like Djokovic, Agassi completed his career Grand Slam at the French Open–which he won in 1999.
“I don’t know Andre that well, because it’s only (been) a couple weeks [since we began] communication. But I already feel like we are very kind of close to each other and creating this nice vibe.
“On the court, he understands the game amazingly well. I am enjoying every conversation that I have with him. But also, on the other hand, he’s someone that nurtures the family values, philanthropy work. He’s a very humble man; is very educated. He’s a person that can contribute to my life on and off the court a lot. I’m very excited to see what is ahead of us.”
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I’m from Vegas, so naturally a huge Agassi fan. If Novak wants to listen I think Andre will be able to impart great knowledge and it sounds like so far that’s Novak’s thinking.
Andre has built a wonderful philanthropic base as well and Novak could prosper from his view on life as well.
What I think Andre will be bringing is an aura of popularity that Novak seems to need. I don’t know what Novak was like in his early days, they all seem to go through a a period of arrogance. Maybe that’s normal in the world of tennis, again I don’t know. But from the onset of his emergence into the land of greats, he was met by opposition from the media and fans of Roger and Rafa. How dare he step on the toes of the two greatest players in the Open Era. He’s been fighting that ever since.
Andre is loved, popular and brings with him an aura of charisma, that can only help Novak.
Agassi only started to be popular late in the piece. At the beginning of his career no one liked him (maybe outside of Vegas). So maybe he can help Djokovic transition through that.
I’m not sure how long it will last. Unlike Becker, who was kind of at a loose end, Agassi has plenty to do in his life already. But I imagine he will be able to help Novak out a bit.
Agassi is a family man and not known to have umpteen affars after marriage. Becker is like Tiger Woods. In Germany, no father wanted his daughter to marry Becker. When Becker got married, his wife left him after the infamous cupboard baby incident. After that too his roving eye continued to rove. I think the Deepika incident may have happened as Djokovic might have been influenced by Becker’s values. If that is so, then Agassi would definitely be better for Djokovic for these kinds of adventures are not only not good for the family but bad for the career too as stability on the home front is very important. It is no coincidence that all the big 4 have been in a stable relationship from an early age.
Interesting theory, though it obviously didn’t stop Tiger Woods from dominating for a long time (one could add a lot of other professional athletes; in another sport and era, Magic Johnson comes to mind).
Unless you think infidelity becomes bad for your career only if you get caught.
Yeah, Tiger Woods got caught right? And look what happened to his career after that! Djoko certainly won’t want his career to go that way like Woods’!
Spot on, Mary. @ 12:52 am
Well, that”s how I suspect it went down. And I think of the big 4 Novak had the most propensity to rove.
And I think he still is emotionally off. There is lingering damage — you can see it by how cold the relationship still is between Jelena and her in-laws.
rc,clearly Novak is trying to repair the relationship but obviously it will take some time. The fact that they are going to have a baby means Jelena too is totally invested in making the marriage work.
Novak fired his whole team. I have some thoughts on this but I would like to hear yours first.
yes, it is break up of the marriage, of the family which is bad. Imagine the trauma of a divorce, the emotional, the financial, the kids…The impact on the public image, the fans….It can be very unsettling.
Of course if somebody is a sociopath, he may not feel anything and he could cold bloodedly go through his daily training regimen fully focused on winning every tournament except for the one night stands as usual which probably aren’t a distraction but part of his relaxation strategy to help him focus on his career goals!
I don’t presume to know anything about Novak’s private life. I have heard about some of the turmoil. But as far as Agassi is concerned, I think he could be of great help to Novak. I am not referring to any influence he have on his personal life. But I do think he has a wealth of knowledge and experience that could benefit Novak as he rebuilds his team.
Change for a player can be a good thing, it worked for Novak when he hired BB, maybe the same will apply with AA, maybe he wont be as dominant as before, but theres still alot of tennis to be played this year, and he is pretty dominant on the HCs ….
I didn’t think he could make it work with BB. AA should be much easier IMO but you never know, only time will tell. I think it will work great for him and I’m glad to see it. I also think he would have made a great coach for Rafa – I think Rafa could have made it work given time, and is not as rigid as thought in this regard. Moot at this point.
Great words from Nole after losing in Rome….
“But I can say that being mentioned together with names like Borg, Agassi, Sampras, Federer and Nadal gives me an immense satisfaction. It means that the passion I’ve had for my sport, combined with the sacrifices, have brought me to a level I could only dream of as a child.”
On winning RG last year and slump since:
“That win brought with it two contrasting emotions: on the one hand, it was a happiness I’d never felt before, but on the other, there was a fatigue that suddenly blew me away. There’s no doubt that from that moment I performed below my own expectations. And I’m not only talking about results, but also about concentration.”
“I didn’t succeed in bringing to the court the technical and emotional tools that I was using in my preparations.”
On losing to Zverev:
“That’s true, but I have a different feeling now. Despite having lost in the final in Rome, I definitely freed positive energy. I had good feelings in any case during the entire clay season. Against Thiem in the semis, I played my best match of the last ten months, and that’s an optimal base to start from. What’s more, Sascha was a great opponent who played better then I did this time.”
A lot of class and maturity there from Novak. I’ve always felt bad for him that he doesn’t have nearly the fan base of Fed and Rafa. Never really understood why.
Because he has a winning record against both of them and reduced their slam counts.
He spent years behaving like a jerk that’s why he was never as popular. His desperate attempts to ingratiate himself with the public ; his multiple withdrawals when he was trailing in the match; his tactical MTOs to disrupt the impetus of opponents; his undignified bellicose celebrations when he wins – none of these sit well with me.
I’ve wondered, too. There’s just something … not likeable about him…at least for some people. Body language, maybe. He seems defensive. One writer described him as “nerdy, slightly needy”. Not attractive qualities in a sports star. As for me, something about him just screams “PHONY!” to me.
Why? Because he’s always trying very hard to beat Fedal, and once he had a win over either, his celebration after the win made many Fedal fans dislike him. He’s very gracious though in defeats, I must say.
Hawks:
You are being deliberately contentious.
There are plenty of things I do admire about Nole but his personality is not one of them.
Interestingly, Rafa experienced a similar reaction after he won the AO. He talked about the animal excitement he felt at the time followed by a sense of great emptiness as if there were no more mountains to climb.
No ed that’s how I sincerely feel is the main reason.
I don’t say that’s why you and others don’t like him but I think that’s why most don’t like him.
I think those flaws make him human and I deeply respect him for what he has achieved as the villain but I do think it had taken its toll in my opinion.
But he’s back now and doesn’t have to contend with Fed. He will be loved in Paris perceived as the main man that can stop le Ogre (or is it la or l’).
#NoleIsBack
I really disliked Lendl when he played but I’ve like him now and see him in a similar vein as Nole (not exact, just similar). Lendl hid his emotions well but he was deeply unliked.
ed,
Stand your ground and stick to what you believe!
I disliked Novak fur a long time because of his MTO’s in matches, his histrionics and meltdowns in court and general boorishness. It took a while for me to at least get to tolerating him and finally respecting his tennis. But it can never bring myself to liking him. There are aspects of him that still bother me. I am willing to give him credit for what he’s done but I cannot embrace him,
But Hawks there was antipathy towards him long before he started amassing Slam titles and was thwarting Federer and Rafa. Actually I’ve followed his career closely having identified him at RG in 2007* as the player most likely to challenge Rafa in the future.
* Nole actually retired from that match
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Dkokovic+post+mstch+interview+at+RG+2007&view=detail&mid=979768B1CE4847D1E666979768B1CE4847D1E666&FORM=VIRE
Ed,it’s RG 2006, not 2007 that Djjoko retired from.
My memory isn’t what it was and it WAS a very long time ago 🙂
You beat Gussie – she is usually the first person to spot my errors!
Because he dared to say that Rafa was beatable on clay. Beatable. Not easy to beat. But saying he COULD be beat. And of course he was right in the end. In fact, to think he or anyone is unbeatable is silly.
He was derided of course, and understandedly so, for believing he was in control of the match. But it’s that belief that allowed him to become the player he became.
I’d take Nole over Fed any day. Fed puts down players he loses to regularly and makes snide remarks prior to big match ups as if he deserves to win. Nole rarely if ever does this. Nole should beat Fed in sportsmanship every year.
#NoleIsBack
Apart from some of the above mentioned things I disliked Nole for his impersonation of Rafa…I thought it was disrespectful and for me it wasn’t funny at all…
Nole did not really arrive on the scene in the public’s eye in a big way that they started paying attention until 2007 in my opinion
He knocked off both rafa and fed to win Montreal that year.
Same reason that the French cheer against Rafa for never letting Fed beat him there.