Woodbridge: Djokovic-Becker split no surprise

It was no surprise to hear the news that the Novak and Boris coaching relationship was coming to an end. It’s often the case that when a player’s form falls away the coach is the first to go. Sometimes that drop in form is nothing to do with the coach, and from all reports that is likely the case here.

While Boris was part of the team, the results were pretty amazing. He was brought in to help out with his performance on grass and in the Slam finals, and he did that. So the question everyone will be asking in the coming months is: ‘where does Novak go to improve himself from here?’

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It would be very hard for someone to walk in and coach Novak, he has already achieved greatness. How does someone improve on that unless they are open to something completely new? I don’t know anyone out there who could do that for him at this stage, common sense says that he’ll go back to the team that has worked well for him previously – that’s Marián Vajda, the physios and the trainers. He will look to form a tight knit group that will protect, encourage and help to rebuild his aura and confidence.

Boris shouldn’t be disappointed about moving on. Everything has a lifespan and he knows that. His time with Novak shows that he has become an excellent coach and mentor and that he has the ability to transfer his knowledge to other players. Hopefully both walk away from this split good friends knowing that they have achieved an enormous amount together.

Was it the right decision? It’s hard for any of us to make a call on a relationship that we’re not privy to. Any media out there who are saying it was a good or bad move have no idea.

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Quite clearly, in Novak’s words it has come down to resetting and reassessing his goals. Given the way he played over the past 6 months – looking stale and tired – it’s probably a change that is needed.

Everyone at some point in their career has times when they need to change things up, and this is one of those for Novak.