After losing coach Andre Agassi, where does Novak Djokovic go from here?
The split between Novak Djokovic and high profile coach Andre Agassi comes after a long string of losses and injury disappointment, and a continued sign of a rapidly declining legend in the sport.
The troubling signs continue for the once-dominant tennis champion Novak Djokovic. Coming on the heels of three straight losses in a row since the beginning of the year, with the latest first round defeat at the hands of Benoit Paire in the Miami Open, the 12-time grand slam champ has also lost his tennis legend coach, Andre Agassi.
The loss of Agassi is especially disturbing by what it highlights about the Serb’s mental state in the game. There are hints about something tennis fans have been suspected for some time, that the Career Slam winner isn’t capable of channeling the same kind of single-minded focus with which he pursued his tennis goals before, something that becomes harder the older you get and the more your family grows. Roger Federer seems to be the exception, but there are so many examples of the opposite.
Losing celebrity coach Agassi is the latest in a long string of detrimental changes for the 30-year-old.
“With only the best intentions I tried to help Novak,” said Agassi in a statement. “We far too often found ourselves agreeing to disagree. I wish him only the best moving forward.”
After a dominant run so commanding in invincibility 2011-15, Djokovic’s massive decline started after achieving the French Open—a grand slam that had alluded him before mostly due to Nadal’s ownership of the tournament—in the second half of 2016. What followed was the loss of his successful partnership with then-coach Boris Becker, and even more shocking, the letting go of his entire training staff, with whom he had achieved most of his titles.
There was talk about Djokovic’s body looking thinner and lacking the kind of muscle definition that had made him seem unstoppable just a few years ago. Famous for his incredible diet, fitness, and laser mental focus on the court, the changes have been shocking for fans.
But excitement peeked again with the unorthodox hiring of Andre Agassi, in his foray into tennis coaching. But with the American tennis legend parting ways with Nole, and the string of losses, bring all the questions back about Djokovic’s future on the tennis circuit.
Tennis commentator Darren Cahill has said that Djokovic didn’t seem committed to the partnership with Agassi.
“During the collaboration with Agassi, I learned more from him than he did to me!’ said Cahill on ESPN. “Therefore, it seems to me that Djokovic was not fully committed to working with Andre and that they were so different.”
Some have said that Agassi was perhaps inexperienced to coach the Serb in the first place, with scheduling conflicts standing in the way of the Las Vegas native for giving the new gig the full 100 percent.
“I think Novak helped him more because he made Agassi a coach,” said former Serbian tennis player Radmilo Armenulic. “He left because he didn’t know what to do. He never worked as a coach and had no experience how to help Novak.
“Novak plays from the baseline better than Agassi and his return is better,” Armenulic continued according to Express. “Then how can Agassi help him?”
Whoever was at fault, Djokovic is the one standing at a crossroads that leaves him still searching for answers. Staying on his team is part-time coach Radek Stepanek, who will probably bring more day-to-day focus to the job anyway. Djokovic is still coming back from elbow injury—not an easy process for such a hard-hitting player—and is now supposedly playing pain-free for the first time in the last few weeks.
The five-time Australian Open champ also had minor surgery on the ailment earlier in the year and it will take time for the tennis player to be fully fit and 100 percent comfortable post-surgery.
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Although it seemed he might skip the clay court season in response to the disappointing hard court season, it looks like he will be participating in the upcoming Monte Carlo tournament after all. Djokovic has achieved a lot on clay and the upcoming season may seem either premature or a good investment on his part to take a chance during a season that has treated him so well in the past.
Djokovic’s recovery has been a difficult and challenging one that has probably felt more painful to his confidence than anything else. But fans hold out hope that he will find a magical solution that will kick in at some point. In the meantime, we can all admire his resilience and will to soldier on in the midst of such anguish.