You have to kill Novak Djokovic 27 times and still, he gets up: Goran Ivanisevic

Former World No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic was all praise for Novak Djokovic after he won his sixth Wimbledon title and 20th Grand Slam crown.

Novak Djokovic in action during the Wimbledon 2021 championship. (Image credit: Novak Djokovic Twitter)
By Karthik Raman | Jul 13, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

One of Novak Djokovic’s coaches, Goran Ivanisevic, has heaped praise on the 20-time Grand Slam champion, saying he has to be killed 27 times and will probably still get up. The Serbian World No.1 won his sixth Wimbledon title and 20th Grand Slam crown on Sunday. As a result, he has now tied Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam titles. Djokovic has now won all three Grand Slams – Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon – played this year. With only US Open still left, the 34-year-old will back himself to claim a calendar-year Grand Slam.

Former World No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic was all praise for Novak Djokovic after his latest Grand Slam win. “He’s like in the movies. You have to kill the guy 27 times and still he gets up and you have to kill him again and he gets up, he gets up,” Ivanisevic said in a press conference after Djokovic’s Wimbledon win. “This is great. I’m proud to be there and to witness that, to be part of that. [He] is going to make history, I strongly believe he will do it.”

“Everything is possible. I’m not going to say [he will reach] 30 [Grand Slams] because it’s a long way. But five, six, seven years ago, we were talking about [Roger] Federer, only about Federer. Now you have [Rafael] Nadal and him competing [for] who is going to be the best ever. For me, Novak is the best ever. He’s writing history. He’s going to do it [at the] US Open. I strongly believe he’s going to do it, he’s going to win all four in one year.”

Working with him is a privilege: Goran Ivanisevic

Ivanisevic, who called working with Novak Djokovic a “privilege”, has informed that the Serbian came to Wimbledon with a lot of “confidence”. “Working with him is a privilege, is an honour, it’s everything, but it’s not easy. It’s a lot of pressure. [Making the] final is not good enough. We count only wins,” Ivanisevic said.

“It’s pressure. It’s not easy. But it’s fun. It’s a challenge. He is writing history. Unbelievable. When he won [Roland Garros], he came here very confident, played with a lot of confidence, played good. Some matches he didn’t play well, but still won. That’s why he’s such a champion.”

“We are from [the] Balkans. [For] people from [the] Balkans, everything is possible,” Ivanisevic said. “When nobody expects anything, we create everything. We are very, very special, special people there.”

“He is [getting] better and better. He’s competing better every day. He’s [an] unbelievable competitor, unbelievable. Something new every day. Even when he’s not playing the best tennis, he’s winning. So imagine when he’s playing [his] best tennis, it’s impossible to beat him.”

Ivanisevic was asked how he would have approached playing Djokovic when the Croatian was in his prime. He responded, “It’s impossible that you can even believe that you can beat him, because the guy is unbeatable at the moment. It was tight against Shapovalov a little bit, but still he came up with some unbelievable shots. He produces some unbelievable things on the court. He’s amazing. Every day [is] something new, something better, better, better. And he’s not going to stop. He just doesn’t want to stop.”





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