Novak Djokovic's former coach Marian Vajda opens up on 'exhausting' scrutiny of coaching World No.1 amid Goran Ivanisevic split

A part of Novak Djokovic's team on more than one occasion, Marian Vajda knows what success and scrutiny looks like with the Slovakian opening up on the exhausting nature of coaching such a big name amid his recent split with Goran Ivanisevic.

Following five years together, Djokovic suddenly split with Ivanisevic after multiple Grand Slams, ATP Masters 1000 titles, ATP Finals and a record breaking stint (still ongoing for now) at World No.1. Vajda was with Djokovic for even longer from 2006-2017 and 2018-2022 and was his last coach before Ivanisevic. He was quizzed this week about whether he saw the split coming and he didn't. He said he found out when everyone else did.

“Look, no, I didn’t expect it. I also read it in the newspaper like everyone else, so my opinion is only on what I have read in the last few days," said Vajda as per Ubitennis.net.

"I was quite surprised because in recent years Novak has always gotten along well with him, he was now totally part of the team. Perhaps the pressure that coaches are subjected to, the one I was talking about before, has become tiring for Ivanisevic too. But I’m not sure about it.”

But also Vajda opened up on the 'exhausting' and 'tiring' nature of coaching such a huge name saying that he would go months without seeing his family. He said that the pressure at times was unbearable as unlike other sports, he has the blame imparted on him. “We were always travelling, from one continent to another,” the Slovakian added. “I always had to say goodbye to my family without knowing how long I would be away and the pressure in tournaments was very strong, even for me. You know, in tennis the coach is constantly under scrutiny. The pressure of this sport is exhausting even for the coach. In football when a team loses, it is never the fault of a single individual, you don’t look every time at how the coach worked to prepare for that match. While when a tennis player loses, the coach is immediately questioned.”