In-form Djokovic discusses Ancic addition

Things are trending in the right direction for Novak Djokovic.

The three-time Wimbledon champion arrived in London after winning the Eastbourne title on Saturday, an excursion to the south coast of England that provided him with valuable time on grass, match play and confidence.

And he continues to build his fledgling team; after parting ways with his long-time entourage in early May, the Serb announced Mario Ancic would join his new team headed by consultant coach Andre Agassi.

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“We talked on the phone probably about three, four weeks ago,” said Djokovic in reference to the former world No.7 from Croatia.

“Of course prior to that call I talked with Andre about who potentially can be joining us in the team as someone who would spend a little bit more time with me on the tour when Andre is not available.

“Mario was top of the list. He’s someone that I’ve known for so many years. And we’re friends. He was one of the players on the tour that I’ve had closest relationship with, even during the active career. Which wasn’t easy, and it’s not easy obviously, because he was top-10 player. We were kind of competitors and rivals.

“But we always had a tremendous respect and support towards each other. We spend a lot of time off the court, speak the same language. Things were very easy for us in terms of communication.

“He said he was anyway coming to London. He would be happy to spend some time with Andre and myself during Wimbledon. That’s more or less everything we talked about.

“In terms of what comes after that, we’ll see. We’ll take a day at a time, see how everything flows during this tournament, see where that takes us.”

Djokovic, the second seed at Wimbledon this year, opens his tournament against Slovak Martin Klizan and faces a dangerous projected third-round match-up against No.29 seed Juan Martin del Potro.

Should the seedings hold, Djokovic would meet title favourite and reigning Australian Open champion Roger Federer, who is seeking an eighth title at the All England Club.

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Just a few weeks ago Djokovic would hardly have been expected to make to the last four given his desultory quarterfinal loss to Dominic Thiem at the French Open.

But after winning four matches in straight sets at Eastbourne to win his first ever grasscourt title outside of Wimbledon, the Serb seems to have rediscovered some spring in his step.

“Obviously I was not playing too many of the events in the week prior to the beginning of the Grand Slam in my career, but I decided to do so this time because I felt like I needed more matches in general, but especially on the grass,” he explained.

“I felt like this time I needed a proper tournament rather than just playing couple of exhibition matches. I’m glad I’ve made that decision, and that I went to Eastbourne, because it was a very positive experience on and off the court as well. People were very kind. It was a great week with a lot of good, positive energy. A lot of time spent on the practice courts, four quality matches.

“Just overall very happy with the way it went, and where my form is at.”