Novak Djokovic is unfairly painted as the villain believes Goran Ivanisevic after their time together came to an end recently after six years.
Speaking to SportKlub and posted by Tennis Majors in a lengthy interview, Ivanisevic recalled in particular when he was dubbed 'the greatest villain on the planet' after the Covid saga involving the Australian Open. Ivanisevic said that people were rude to Djokovic when the perception is far from the true that he is selfless and far from a villain off the court.
"Everywhere we went people were looking at us, at him like a villain,” said Ivanisevic. "Of course, there were also people who gave their support, who came up to us telling us to stay strong. But there were many who were very rude, aggressive.
“Novak, when all the cameras are off and when he is most himself, he is a good person, he has a big heart. I was always ready to even die for him if it were necessary, he was fighting against the whole world.”
Also he hit back at those trying to find reasoning behind their split and said that their partnership simply ran its course and it was nothing more, nothing less.
“Well I read a lot of those… I repeat again, people just have to write something, unfortunately, no one was even close to getting it,” he stated. "I mean, there isn’t really a “real” reason. One reason is indeed a sense of saturation/fatigue, this really was a difficult and intense five years. People forget that period during the coronavirus, they forget that he was at one moment labelled as the greatest villain on the planet because of his vaccination status.
“So then we weren’t allowed in this country, then that country, then we travel over here… I mean, we were always in some sort of limbo – playing, not playing, ready again, then changing restrictions which forbid us from playing and we can’t travel there. Not to mention Australia and all of that mayhem.
"We reached a certain level of saturation, as I like to say: “material fatigue”. Just as a car needs a regular service and tune up, basically I became tired of him, he became tired of me; in any case I didn’t feel like I could help him anymore. "Even so, when we add it all up together, we achieved great things for ourselves and for tennis.”
Goran Ivanisevic: “Novak is a good man with huge heart, I was always ready to die for him if needed, to fight the whole world”. Very few coaches would be willing to support their player to this extent and vice versa! This speaks volumes about character of these two individuals!
