Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who is no longer the best men’s tennis player in the world after being passed by Daniil Medvedev of Russia this past week, has announced he will no longer have his long time coach, Marian Vajda of Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia, in his box. According to Issy Ronald of CNN, Djokovic and Vajda have parted ways, and have not worked together since the 2021 ATP Finals which were won by Alexander Zverev of Germany.
Vajda coached Djokovic during all 20 of his grand slam singles titles. Those include nine Australian Opens, two French Opens, six Wimbledons and three United States Opens.
It should be noted that Djokovic did not have Vajda during the 2017 season. At the 2017 French Open, Djokovic worked with eight-time grand slam champion Andre Agassi of the United States.
In 2017 and 2018, Djokovic dealt with a serious elbow injury that required surgery after a fourth round loss at the 2018 Australian Open. By the time the 2018 clay court season began, Djokovic reunited with Vajda for the 2018 Monte Carlo Masters.
Also as coach, Vajda tutored Karol Kucera of Slovakia for five years from 2001 to 2005. During that time, Kucera won the 2003 Copenhagen Open. Vajda was also in charge of the Slovakian Fed Cup team and Slovakian Davis Cup team.
As a player, Vajda won two ATP tournaments. He defeated Tomas Smid of the Czech Republic in the final of the 1987 Prague Open, 6-1, 6-3. Vajda then defeated Kent Carlsson of Sweden in the final of the 1988 Geneva Open, 6-4, 6-4.
This past week Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Tournament to Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic. He announced on Tuesday he was unable to attend the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Masters because he is unvaccinated.
