Andre Agassi has said his parting of the ways with Novak Djokovic stemmed largely from the player’s reluctance to embrace his guidance and ideas.
Agassi, who said when the pair parted company in April that they had too often found themselves agreeing to disagree, cited the Serb’s initial unwillingness to have surgery on the chronic elbow injury that put him out of action for the final six months of last year as the chief stumbling block in a collaboration also undermined by differences over training and nutrition.
“I only knew him with a hurt elbow, so it was always plasters and big problems,” his former coach Agassi said. “I think there was a real hope his elbow could heal naturally, holistically. I personally wasn’t a fan of that choice. You can’t force someone when it comes to their own body, you have to understand their hesitations, but health is a function of taking care of your body, making the hard decisions, giving yourself the time and then moving forward methodically. Rest wasn’t going to do it in my estimation.
“When I saw the results of his MRIs in August, I was very clear with him: I advocated surgery right away, because that could end the issue once and for all.”
Djokovic underwent surgery in February, after losing to South Korea’s Chung Hyeon ng at the Australian Open the previous month. By then Agassi and his fellow coach, Radek Stepanek, had worked to remodel the 12-times grand slam title winner’s serve with the aim of reducing stress on the injured joint. Implementing the change was not easy – “there weren’t two healthy days in a row,” said Agassi – but Djokovic’s motion became more compact, even if its fluidity and accuracy perhaps suffered, particularly on the wide kick serve to the advantage court.
“That’s a hyper-extension movement. If something hurts, that’s the one that you’re going to be hesitant with,” Agassi said. “If you have an elbow issue, you’re going to be a little hesitant to throw that arm as aggressively as you have to.”
Agassi was able to see through technical change, other areas proved more challenging. John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova are among observers who believe Djokovic might benefit from gaining bulk, and Agassi, whose commitment in the gym under the guidance of the American fitness trainer Gil Reyes reaped dividends in the later stages of his career, apparently thought likewise.
But while he floated the possibility of changes to the 31-year-old’s conditioning and nutrition programme Djokovic was slow to embrace proposed changes. “I think his learning curves could be quicker but they have to be his,” Agassi said. “He’s just that kind of guy – he needs ownership over his own process. So if he’s not having the energy or the strength, that’s something he’ll figure out on his own. I’ve always believed in strength training, I’ve always believed in eating a healthy range and a quantity of protein. But for years, he did it his own way.
“You get to a point where if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem. We agreed to disagree far too often for me to feel like I was helping him, and I cared too much about him to just watch him go through something I felt I could help him with.” Les Roopanarine
Andre Agassi spoke to the Guardian courtesy of Lavazza, official coffee of the championships at Wimbledon, as its global ambassador for the second year.