Ugo Humbert dismisses rumors of possibly working with Novak Djokovic's former coach, Goran Ivanisevic

Although Goran Ivanisevic has a good track record as a coach on the ATP Tour, French tennis star Ugo Humbert has put to bed any rumors of adding the former Croatian player to his coaching team.

Ivanisevic, who won his only Grand Slam title at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, slowly transitioned to coaching after hanging up his racket. The former World No.2 worked with the likes of compatriot Marin Cilic, Czech star Tomas Berdych and Canadian Milos Raonic before teaming up with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic from 2019 till 2024.

The Frenchman is currently without a coach. However, when asked if he had considered adding a foreign coach like Ivanisevic to his team, Humbert was quick to dismiss the idea, highlighting the communication problem.

"I already have a team around me," said Humbert in an interview with L'Equipe. "Jeremy has left, my team is fine as it is, I’m not necessarily looking for someone else. If ever, at some point, I need an additional person, I’ll think about it but for the moment it’s not at all the priority.
"Having a foreigner is a bit complicated for me. Speaking English, all that, I’m not sure I’ll have 100% of the relationship… That’s why I prefer to have someone who speaks French, in order to express myself, say what I think and understand, too. I saw that Goran was mentioned, but I said to myself “what are they talking about?"

The World No.17 will take on Kazakh player Alexander Bublik in his opening round match at the ongoing Open 13 Provence tournament, where he is likely to receive tremendous support from the local French crowd in attendance.