PARIS: Following Novak Djokovic’s 23rd Grand Slam title win at the French Open, his coach Goran Ivanisevic expressed that he was not really concerned about Djokovic’s chances at Roland Garros despite a 5-3 start to the clay-court season, saying that the player “has a software in his head” which causes him to switch during grand slam events.
In the clay-court major final, the 36-year-old Djokovic defeated Casper Ruud in straight sets to win his record 23rd Grand Slam title on Sunday. He has now won six out of the last eight majors in which he has participated.
“He (Djokovic) has this software in his head that he can switch when a Grand Slam comes. A Grand Slam is a different sport compared to other tournaments. He switches his software. The day we arrived here, he was better, he was more motivated, he was more hungry,” Ivanisevic said as quoted by ATP after Serbian’s win in the final.
“Every day he played better and better. I thought against Alcaraz one-and-a-half hours he played unbelievably smart and unbelievable tennis. And today he just finish what we started actually in Monte-Carlo, to practise, and now it’s payday. We cashed the cheque,” he added.
During the trophy ceremony, the Serbian had alluded to the difficulties he had given to his team.
“He chained us with handcuffs for three days,” Ivanisevic said, smiling.
“He is not [an] easy guy, let us put it this way. He is not [an] easy guy. Especially when something is not going his way. But we are here to put our back and to get beaten, you know. That is what the team is for. We are here for him to feel better, for him to perform better. Sometimes [it is] not easy. Sometimes it is very complicated.”
“But overall, this is for what you live, the tournaments like this, the finishing like this. [It] was not easy. [It] was not [an] easy journey. You know we started in Monte-Carlo, Banja Luka. Rome was a little better but still away from his real form. He was torturing us, taking our nails off. A lot of more things but I cannot tell you that. But we are still here, we are alive. My heart is still okay. I am [an] old man, I need to be careful of my heart. So he is okay,” concluded the coach.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic continued to extend his lead in the Big Titles race as on Sunday he clinched the French Open 2023 to become the first player to capture all four major trophies (Wimbledon, US Open, French Open, Australian Open) at least three times.
In the race for the Big Titles, which includes Grand Slam titles, Olympic singles gold medals, the Nitto ATP Finals, and ATP Masters 1000 competitions, Djokovic has pulled far ahead of his main competitors, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer (who is now retired).
The Serbian holds the record for most major championship wins (23; solo record), ATP Finals victories (6; tied with Federer); and Masters 1000 victories (38; solo record). He currently has 67 Big Title victories against Nadal’s 59 and Federer’s 54.
The 36-year-old is also halfway to becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the Grand Slam by winning all four majors in the same season. Before losing in the US Open final in 2021, Djokovic won the first three major championships of the year.
In the French Open 2023 final at the Court Philippe-Chatrier, Djokovic overcame Ruud’s strong start to secure his historic victory. The third seed won the first set after trailing 1-4 in the tie-break. He then produced some of his best hitting of the past two days in the second and third sets en route to a three-hour, 13-minute victory. (ANI)