Last week former world no.1 Novak Djokovic announced he was parting ways with three members of his coaching staff to regain his form. He split with his coach Marian Vajda, his trainer Gebhard Phil Gritsch and his physical therapist Miljan Amanovic. The Serb is set to take part in the 2017 Madrid Open and his team will only include a physiotherapist, his brother, Marko, and former Spanish tennis player Pepe Imaz.
Djokovic is in a situation unlike any other at the moment and for the time being, he will have to rely on the support of his family and management to get through this rough patch. Despite that, Djokovic said he is excited about the new phase of his career during a pre-match press conference ahead of the Madrid Open.
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"It was not an easy decision, neither for my team nor for me... This team has been there with me ever since I started a professional career. So it's been 10 fantastic, successful years. But we all felt like we needed a change," ATP's official website quoted Djokovic as saying.
"We all felt like we needed to enter a new chapter. It was a mutual decision... We just accepted it in a very good way... We move on, excited, all of us to see what the next chapter of our career and life brings."
Check out Novak Djokovic's complete interview right here.
Djokovic heads into the 2017 Madrid Open as the defending champion after beating current world no.1 Andy Murray in the finals last year. The Serb will certainly do his best to defend his title and his first opponent could be wild card entries Nicolas Almagro or Tommy Robredo.
"Life always throws new challenges at you. Instead of avoiding them and ducking them, I'm trying to confront them and trying to embrace them. In the process, I'm trying to get better as a person and as a tennis player," Djokovic said.
Finding a new coach is now definitely going to be a huge task for Djokovic but he said he is in no rush and wants to find someone who has gone through similar experiences like him.
"I also know that I'll not stay by myself without a tennis coach for too long. I assume it is going to be someone that has been through similar experiences like I have. 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. I'm thinking slowly and thoroughly about it. I don't want to take things with a rush," Djokovic said.
