Novak Djokovic started working with Marian Vajda in June 2006, right after Roland Garros. Fifteen years later, they have forged one of the best player-coach combos in the game's history.
Speaking about Novak, Marian said that he wanted to become world no. 1 too fast, which halted him in the early years. Djokovic was working hard to achieve his goal, and it came after Wimbledon 2011, starting his domination that still goes on. Vajda feared that it would turn down his motivation and desire to chase more achievements in records.
Instead of that, Novak was ready to hunt Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the great rivals who were miles in front of him at that moment. Ten years later, Novak is only two Major titles behind Federer and Nadal, feeling ready to catch and pass them in the next couple of years.
"Initially, when I began working with Novak, he did not make it to No. 1 as he wanted to get there too fast - I always emphasized that he had to work hard and to put in the quality of the practice to get there. He did put through the sweat and patience for the sport, developing his game through pain and effort even when there was a time that he didn't believe he could make it to No. 1 for those five years between 2006 and 2011.
I always believed in building up slowly to improve his game, until Novak himself thought he could get to the level required, like in 2011 where he broke through and performed such an incredible season. After he became No. 1 after Wimbledon and his life changed, I was worried that would be it as he'd reached his dream, but now he is dominating the game and is beating the likes of Federer and Nadal, which was impossible before.
He is physically stronger, altered his diet and changed his attitude to the practices. If his health remains stable, I know he can break more records; he is very motivated," Marian Vajda said.