By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday May 3, 2022
In early March, when Novak Djokovic announced that he would be parting ways with longtime coach Marian Vajda, most assumed that the fabled Vajda was eager to live the quiet life at home, with his coaching career behind him.
But Vajda has surprised the tennis world by announcing that he has begun work with Slovakia’s Alex Molcan.
According to Serbian Journalist Sasa Ozmo, Vajda is already working with Molcan and the piar plan to work together at Rome next week.
Karol Beck, former ATP No.36 will stay with the team as well.
“Novak and me are still friends, it was an amicable split. I told Goran (Ivanisevic, Djokovic’s current coach) that we will practice together in Paris. I did not tell Novak (about the new gig), but I did tell Goran, so I am sure Novak knows”, Vajda told reporters in Bratislava.
According to Ozmo, Vajda said that he felt Djokovic wanted to proceed with only one coach, and that coach was Ivanisevic.
“It was a combination of various reasons: we have been together for a really long time and his decisions showed that he wanted to focus on Grand Slam tournaments – that is why he might think that it is not ideal to have so many people in his team. He wanted to reduce it and have only one coach.
“I don’t know for sure, because I never asked him, but I assume from my analysis of his tournament schedule, that he wanted to reduce his team, and he chose Goran Ivanisevic. It did not make sense for a coach to coach him only him on Grand Slams, because a coach needs a long-term plan."
Vajda also said that coaching a Slovakian player was what made it a no-brainer for him. He said he had many offers since parting ways with Djokovic, but chose to work with a player from his homeland.
24-year-old Molcan is ranked 47 in the world, and carries a 10-7 record on tour. He had only ten matches on tour before this season, but has enjoyed his best season on tour. He has been to two career finals in his career, at Belgrade last year and at Marrakech this season.