By Chris Oddo | Tuesday July 24, 2018
Marian Vajda helped Novak Djokovic find what was missing after a turbulent year. The coach opened up in a deep interview with SportKlub this week.
Photo Source: Matthew Stockman/Getty
In a lengthy interview with Stefan Bugan of SportKlub, Novak Djokovic’s coach Marian Vajda gave great insight into the mindset of the 2018 Wimbledon champion and detailed many of the steps that led him back to Djokovic after parting ways with him in 2017. The following quotes have been translated into English by Saša Osmo, a Serbian-based writer who also works for SportKlub.
Click on the link inside the tweet below or follow Osmo’s thread to see more quotes from Vajda.
In the interview Vajda talks about the conditions that needed to be met for him to return as a coach for Djokovic, including terminating the professional relationship with guru Pepe Imaz and the shifting of dietary restrictions to accommodate on-court needs.
“Tennis can‘t be based on philosophy, it‘s a sport, man vs. man,” Vajda said. “If you want to be the best, you do that by repetitions in practice, by matches and strong mentality. When you see an opponent, you have to focus on where to send the ball, not to think about Buddha.”
Djokovic had taken up with Imaz, a former ATP player and self-styled spiritual guru, after he had won his fourth consecutive major title in 2016 at Roland Garros. The two appeared to be a good match on the surface. Always a seeker, Djokovic wanted to find more meaning in his life. He had won everything in the sport and was just starting a family and it seemed a natural fit, but the quest for enlightenment in his personal life seemed to bleed into Djokovic’s professional life and as he suffered physically he also lost his way psychologically on the court.
It’s impossible to quantify what type of effect Imaz had on Djokovic, either personally or professionally, but it was easy to see that the Serb was experimenting with his on-court demeanor and he began to appear self-conscious and less ruthless than the savage champion we had come to know in the past.
Vajda says he wanted to remove this type of influence before the pair started to work together again.
“I wanted to make a plan and rules for upcoming months,” he said. “In Barcelona we were all there, we sat down and talked. We told him, that we won't be glad, if people in background will have influence on him, like it was before.”
Coach Vajda said he also convinced Djokovic to move away from his vegetarian diet in order to get the necessary mileage out of his muscles on the court.
“Novak‘s muscle fibres are ideal for tennis,” he said. “But his muscles needed strengthening. His diet is dominantly vegetarian, but he needed some animal proteins as well. It‘s not possible without those. That is why Novak adjusted his diet to include eating more fish as he doesn‘t eat other kind of meat. Now his muscles are in perfect condition, he is following all the right habits and doing what it takes to be a champion. I hope it continues for US Open as well.”
These steps helped Djokovic, now healthy again for the first time in over a year, go from doubt-filled and desultory, to inspired and passionate.
“I caught him full of doubts and he asked me about my opinion on his tennis,” said Vajda, who tells the story of Djokovic calling him after a difficult loss to Benoit Paire in Miami and talking for about an hour. “He wasn´t clear on how his game should look. He wasn´t sure about his team, which was lead by Agaasi and Stepanek.”
Vajda admitted that he received many coaching offers over the last year, but he didn’t see anything that could measure up to what he had in coaching Djokovic. So he waited, and when the moment came, he was ready to come to the aid of a Djokovic who needed him.
“I didn‘t fell ready for coming back,” Vajda said of his year on the sidelines. “It´s tough to coach anyone after Novak. I experienced and accomplished everything possible in tennis with him."
As for the Imaz experiment, and his time spent with Andre Agassi and Radek Stepanek, Djokovic may not have experienced much success on the tennis court during their time together, but if the relationships played a role in helping Djokovic the seeker find some balance in his personal life, then their contributions shouldn't be discounted. Perhaps, more than anything, Djokovic needed to take a step back from the grind and see life from a different angle.
And when he was ready to return Vajda, once again, proved to be the perfect facilitator for a fierce champion.