By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, April 12, 2019

Pain is both occupational hazard and powerful epiphany for Janko Tipsarevic.

The former world No. 8 has endured seven surgeries, amassed more scars than an MMA fighter and sports more ink than a Jackson Pollock painting.

One of tennis’ most thoughtful, charismatic and colorful players, Tipsarevic remains a candid and insightful voice in the sport who is now sharing his wisdom mentoring juniors.

Tisparevic, the son of a college professor, is engaging juniors and fans with a four-week, online mastermind course.

The 2011 US Open quarterfinalist has launched Succeed With Janko.com an interactive mastermind program inviting aspiring young athletes from around the world, to join him live; asking questions and absorbing knowledge from the lessons of Janko’s inspiring journey and how to build resilience and overcome adversity.

Tipsarevic heads a world-class academy in Belgrade, Serbia; his online mastermind course starts April 28th and aims to help athletes struggling with mental issues on court rather than technical skills. 

The Tipsarevic Academy mission statement, "keep digging", is Tipsarevic's latest tattoo and tennis motto.

“We're trying something completely different. I am a firm believer that to become a professional athlete and a world number one, a player needs more than the skill of their game," Tipsarevic told Tennis Now. "They need the resilience, determination and mindset to hit the big goals needed to succeed. But this is not something that many young athletes are supported with.

"Many sporting matches have been won or lost before any players have stepped out to compete. The most successful athletes are able to master their high performance."



The tattoos that adorn his arms combined with with the sports spectacles on his face make Tipsarevic look a little bit like a biker moonlighting as a philosophy professor.

A self-described “book nerd”, who inherited a love of reading from his mom, Tipsarevic can quote Dostoevsky or Charles Bukowski in conversation and is equally comfortable talking sociology, Family Guy episodes or music trends.

The analytical merges with the instinctual when you watch him play. On court and in conversation, Tipsarevic is refreshingly candid and direct.

A master of multi-tasking, Tipsarevic is playing the ball, the opponent and the calendar in his comeback after a 16-month layoff following surgery to both hamstrings. 

“I don’t have a Plan B,” Tipsarevic said. “My current state is that I am 35 years old coming back from seven different surgeries, which means that I cannot rely on my body as much as I could when I was 25 or when I was Top 10. So my game plan is very simple: Staying close to the line, trying to dominate my opponent and playing aggressive tennis.”

We caught up with Janko following his Houston victory over third-seeded Cameron Norrie for this interview where he discusses his goal for his new mastermind course, why Novak Djokovic will surpass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as GOAT, what Nick Kyrgios needs most and how rejecting relentless positive thinking has helped inspire his comeback.

Tennis Now: What is your ultimate aim with Succeed With Janko.com mastermind program?

Janko Tipsarevic: Succeed with Janko is a series of mastermind classes developed by me and my partners. We’re trying something completely different. I believe it’s the world’s first mastermind course where a professional athlete, who had, let’s say, a very interesting career: being the world number one junior, then being Top 10 in the world, then being injured and trying to come back. So somebody like me who is trying, not only to share my life story, but to try to explain to the people the main aspects of what you need to be successful.

The aspects can be applied on the tennis court or any court for that matter. And can be equally applied in every day life. I’m very, very super-excited about it especially because I love teaching. At my tennis academy in Belgrade we have over 100 players and 20 coaches so teaching and helping people is something which is really deeply, deeply in my core.

TN: You’ve endured so much pain, suffering and seven surgeries. Yet you’re still out there playing and winning. How did you keep a positive state of mind through it all and never, ever quit?

Janko Tipsarevic: The common misconception, Richard, is that people think you need to stay positive. You actually don’t.

One of my favorite writers is Charles Bukowski, who is actually writing very often about the essence of being an optimist, which he necessarily doesn’t like.

If you’re constantly positive and optimistic it means that you’re seeing only the good in every day situations. But you and me both know that this is not true. The main part about all of this and the essence of “keep digging” is to realize where you are.

So when life is throwing shit at you, you need to realize in the current state where you are, you are being dealt a bad hand. You are being dealt crap. But the next step is only if you’re brave enough to continue to keep digging and realizing where you are now. The beauty of tennis is that there are so many tournaments every single week. And the beauty about life is that we live every single day.

You have the power to change your destiny and the way you live every single day. The journey begins at the beginning. And in order for the beginning to be healthy and organic you need to realize where you are and not have a constant optimistic attitude. Maybe it’s a little too much but this is something I really deeply believe.

TN: It’s fascinating to me that your game looks very instinctual, particularly knowing when to go down the line, yet when I hear you speak or speak to you, you come across as analytical and philosophical. How do you merge the analytical and instinctual into your style of playing and coaching?



Janko Tipsarevic: I wasn’t always like this. I have to say I am really enjoying my time on the tennis court simply because, and this might sound a little silly, is that I don’t have a Plan B. I’m aware of my current state.

My current state is that I am 35 years old coming back from seven different surgeries, which means that I cannot rely on my body as much as I could when I was 25 or when I was Top 10. So my game plan is very simple: Staying close to the line, trying to dominate my opponent and playing aggressive tennis.

And there is no Plan B. This is why very often if you watch my matches, as you pointed out, I’m feeling very aggressive from the very, very beginning of the match.

The philosophical part, I don’t know if I come out that way. It’s not my intention to try to sound smart. I like reading books. I was a very big book nerd. I got that from my mother. I love reading books and I love thinking about modern sociology and the things surrounding us and how they impact our life. I like the trigger-point effect, not only on the tennis court, but in life in general. I guess if you combine that with my love of teaching and coaching this is one of the reasons I am as I am and why I hope and think that this mastermind will be a great success.

TN: You’re one of the most prolific and dedicated Davis Cup players of this era, you were a key player on Serbia’s 2010 Davis Cup championship team. What is your opinion on the Davis Cup changes?



Janko Tipsarevic: The only thing I don’t like about tennis is it’s not a team sport. We, as tennis players, are very, very selfish creatures. People in individual sports are selfish, which is normal. Your sport requires it in order to maximize your full potential because the tennis span lifestyle is very short, it’s 10 or 15 years or maybe if you’re Roger (Federer) it’s 20 years.

And in the Davis Cup I enjoy it so much because I view myself, very strongly, as a team player. I enjoy being part of the team. I enjoy feeling energy and feeding from the energy of my teammates. This is why my Davis Cup record is very good and I have been playing for my country, I think next year will be year number 20, because I started playing when I was 16 years old.

As for the changes, listen honestly players will be paid more, which is good. More money will come to the pockets of all the players and competitors.


The bad part is the date is terrible. I mean I’m not even talking about the guys who are going to play the ATP Final in London. But after that everyone needs to go play Davis Cup. I’m talking even about the guys who are planning to finish the season early, have a vacation, a very short one if I may add, and then after that prepare for the new season. Because they lost two, three weeks before. But they’re unable to do that because they need to keep practicing and training in order to play the Davis Cup tie in November. So that, I’m not a big fan of.

The other part is, I think the local federations might suffer a bit more. Because even though a few of the players who are ranked 40, 50, 60 are not international superstars, they are stars for their own country. And it would be very hard for the local tennis fans to see players ranked 40, 50, 60 and there are no ATP events in that country. To me, the sport as a whole is getting shift because the local superstar will basically never be seen by the people of the nation which has supported him.

There are good and bad things but we just have to wait and see how this first year goes. I hate coming to conclusions without having seen the first year how this is actually going to pan out.


TN: You’ve played the three legendary champions—Novak, Roger, Rafa—how will this Grand Slam chase and GOAT race play out? Will Novak match or surpass Roger and Rafa in Slams and achievement?

Janko Tipsarevic: If we put injury aside, Richard, and we don’t speak about any of these guys going to get injured seriously the next few months or end of the year. My serious opinion is that when everything is said and done—and not because he is my friend, it has nothing to do with it I would say a different name if I honestly thought it—I believe that Novak Djokovic will be the greatest player of all time.

You and me both know that he will break, for sure, every single record outside the record which is up to debate, which is the Grand Slam record. Novak is ahead of Roger in Masters (titles) and he’s six years younger. The second part he will surpass Roger in number of weeks being world number one. He actually won every singles Masters Series (title), which Roger hasn’t done. The one thing you can argue is he’s missing an Olympic gold, which is a different discussion.

I really think the main thing about GOAT discussion, and we’re not talking about NBA who scored more points, who won more championships is it Jordan is it Bill Russell or whatever. In tennis, it’s largely viewed who won the most Grand Slams.

The major role will play in Novak’s head. Because my personal opinion is that when all three guys are at their apex, outside of Rafa on clay, Novak is the best player of all time.



TN: Most people make the politically correct answer and say Rafa on clay, Roger on grass and Novak and hard court, but you don’t?

Janko Tipsarevic: I think Rafa Nadal if Rafa plays his best tennis and Novak plays his best tennis, Nadal is the better player on clay. I don’t think many people will argue that point. But if we’re talking overall, 70 percent of tennis is played on hard court, 70 percent of ATP events are played on hard court. The majority of our majors and big tournaments are played on hard court.

Even on grass courts, the last couple of years, Novak showed that when Roger was healthy and playing good, he was able to beat Roger. I’m honestly very curious, what is their head-to-head on grass? [Djokovic leads Federer, 2-1 on grass]. I wouldn’t be surprised if Novak has a better head-to-head record than Roger even on grass. By the way, he has a better head-to-head record overall. That’s one more point, which you can argue.

If Novak stays healthy, we should be able to see what happened at the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic has an ability to age well. When I say that if you saw the semifinals vs. Lucas Pouille and the final vs. Rafa, it wasn’t Novak who was running, grinding and defending, which he still has this ability. It was Novak who was standing basically on the freaking baseline, similar to what Agassi did, and playing rockets wherever he chooses.

To me he has the ability to shift and alter his game once he’s 34, 35, 36. That’s why I believe barring injury of course, he has the serious case for becoming GOAT.

TN: You’re part of this incredible generation of Serbian players that produced yourself, Novak, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Viktor Troicki, Zimonjic, Dusan Lajovic. Obviously, you all have different playing styles. Is there any characteristic or quality that connects this group, who came out of a small country and achieved phenomenal success?

Janko Tipsarevic: I can tell you from first hand, you know this, we had tremendous success and I don’t know if it will ever happen again. Most of us and I don’t like speaking for others, but I know all of these people very well, even if we say that in our Serbian childhood we had undergone two wars and the bombings and disaster and the political adversity all of us, or most of us, had a very happy childhood.

The problem is it wasn’t easy. It was difficult. We weren’t pampered. We weren’t having the international trips and support of our federation. And this is not a knock on our federation. Because at that time tennis was the last thing on people’s minds if they did not have enough money to support their families. So I’m not knocking the Serbian tennis federation. But because of this you kind of learn how to hustle, you learn how to fight, you learn how to grind.

If you see all of these players you mention, it’s a big part of our games. Our games are completely different, but the one thing if you can say about all of us is the fighting spirit and the fighting attitude is basically at the very top of the game. This is what you learn coming from a politically-challenged country wanting to succeed.

The second part is no one wants to sit on the bench. You see Novak being world number one and you start thinking: Oh, my God if this guy is number one, why the hell can I not be Top 20 or Top 10?

So it happens a lot where great players are dragging other players to play well. Because up until someone close to you does it, you kind of think it’s impossible to do. But then you see someone up close, and I know what I learned from Novak, you start to think: Oh, my God it’s actually possible. I can actually be Top 20. I can actually be Top 10. So I believe this great generation helped each other. Nenad was number one, Ana was number one, Novak was number one, Jelena was number one.

It’s insane for a seven million person country. I’m very happy to be a part of this great generation.


TN: Some of my favorite matches of yours,when you beat Roddick at the 2010 US Open or the 2008 Australian Open epic vs. Federer, have happened on major stages against big-time champions. How do you stay so calm and actually seem more focused playing in front of 20,000 screaming people at the US Open or on any of the biggest stages? 


Janko Tipsarevic: I enjoy playing on the biggest stage. One of my biggest problems when I was younger was if you put me on a big stage then the environment is making me focus. Because when I play in front of 10 or 15,000 people, I am more focused, therefore I am less scared. I don’t feel chickened out, it’s just something that I have. But the bad part was that at that stage of my career was if you put me on Court 22 next to the dumpsters where no one is watching, I don’t get as motivated as I should.

I’m not Nick Kyrgios in that way that I’m so de-motivated but it wasn’t the same Janko as showed up two nights ago on center court of the US Open. The bigger the stage the more focused I am the less scared I am.



TN: What does Nick need to fulfill his potential? Does he need the right coach?

Janko Tipsarevic: Nick is an incredibly nice human being. It maybe looks like he really doesn’t care, but he is a really, really nice person and I can tell you this first hand.

About Nick, I think people should stop bothering him. Nick needs to find out what he actually wants. And maybe he is really actually happy like this. I think people never think about it.

Because when you talk about Nick the first thing that comes to your mind is “It’s a shame” right Richard?

TN: Right.

Janko Tipsarevic: It’s a shame, that’s the first thing people think. The question you just asked: if this guy has the right coach has the ability to win Grand Slams and be the world No. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. But maybe Nick doesn’t want that. Maybe he wants to enjoy life, play tennis, he practices. Maybe he doesn’t practice as hard as he should, but he practices.

And maybe he enjoys being Nick Kyrgios being how he is and maybe we will never see the full potential because he doesn’t actually want it. To a much lesser degree, we can argue the same point about David Nalbandian.

David Nalbandian has the same ability to be the world number one, but he had a bit of a hedonistic approach and wanted to enjoy life. So when he’s motivated, he would beat every fucking player on the ATP Tour, but when wasn’t, it wasn’t the same guy. 

So I think people should stop bothering Nick with this “when are you gonna grow up?” Because the first step is with Nick and when he really decides what he wants. Honestly, maybe he’s really happy with what’s going on in his life right now and why shouldn’t he be? He has a great life.