Agassi or Sampras to coach Djokovic?

Following Novak Djokovic’s stunning decision a few days ago to fire his entire entourage, speculation has commenced regarding who will be his next coach.

Djokovic ended his association with long-time coach Marian Vajda – as well as his fitness trainer Gebhard Phil Gritsch and physiotherapist Miljan Amanovic – just six months after parting ways with his second coach, Boris Becker.

“I have been on the Tour long enough to know how to manage daily routines and I don’t want to rush my decision (on a replacement coach),” Djokovic said. “I will be on the Tour alone for a while with support of my family and management. I will inform the public when I find the right person. I have so much faith in this process and that’s why I will take time to find the right person who I can connect with professionally.”

He added on Sunday in Madrid: “I assume it’s going to be someone that has been through similar experiences like I have, so… Not too many people in the past of tennis have managed to get to that stage and play at that level, so I’ll see.”

Yet in a piece for The Telegraph, Simon Briggs believes Andre Agassi could be in line for the position.

“Djokovic hinted in his pre-tournament press conference in Madrid that he was looking for another so-called supercoach,” Briggs writes.

“Until his departure at the end of last season, Boris Becker managed to improve Djokovic’s conversion rate in major factors. Now Agassi has all the credentials and experience to help Djokovic – the world No.2 and reigning French Open champion – in his quest to regain former glories.

“Djokovic’s agent, Edoardo Artaldi, said last night that no decision had yet been made … But the process may be more advanced than Djokovic is acknowledging.

“It is understood that the departed members of his team knew their time was up a month ago. In Monte Carlo in the middle of April, they were informing close colleagues of their imminent departures.”

Meanwhile, in the latest episode of The Tennis Podcast, co-host David Law said he would not be surprised if the Serb had approached Pete Sampras as a coaching candidate.

“One of the big differences between Djokovic and, say, Federer … is I don’t think (Djokovic), and in fact I don’t think anybody, has the innate love for the game that Federer has. And I think that not winning is bothering Djokovic more than it bothered Federer (a few years ago),” Law said.

“Djokovic is a bit more like Pete Sampras, who, incidentally, I bet is one of the people that (Djokovic) has approached. I would not be at all surprised if Novak Djokovic has approached Pete Sampras.

“And like Sampras, they have a love of winning, first of all. I think Djokovic probably enjoys the game more than Sampras did, but they both love winning. And when the winning stops, their motivation dips dramatically, I think.

“I think they find it harder to reason with the sort of schedule that they have to put themselves through – the travelling, the training, the dedication, the sacrifice of doing normal, everyday things and enjoying their money in that way – in order to keep going.

“Sampras is his hero, by the way.”