One of the greatest tennis players of all time Jimmy Connors opened up on becoming Novak Djokovic’s coach after the Serb parted ways with his longtime coach Goran Ivanisevic.
Ivanisevic, who bagged the singles title at Wimbledon in 2001 after finishing runner-up in 1992, 1994 and 1998, became a part of Djokovic's team in 2019 and helped the 36-year-old clinch nine majors and a total of 24 titles.
However, after a quiet start to the 2024 season where the Serb lost in the Australian Open semi-final to Jannik Sinner and then suffered a shock defeat against lucky loser Luca Nardi in the Indian Wells, Djokovic withdrew from the Miami Open and decided to part ways with the Croatian.
Jimmy was asked by his son Brett Connors if he would be interested in working with Djokovic as the Serb split with Ivanisevic and may be looking for a new coach for the clay season.
"I'm out of the tennis business Brett. I love doing a tennis podcast and hanging with you and talking tennis but you know, if the opportunity arose, it would certainly be a pleasure, an honour if he would even throw my name in the hat,” Jimmy said in the latest episode of Advantage Connors podcast.
"But as far as it goes, we were just talking about Danielle Collins and how life changes and life goes on and right now, I’m happy doing what I’m doing now. I love my life, I love everything about it."
Brett then added that Djokovic’s playing style is similar to Jimmy's during his playing time, he emphasised on why the two combining forces would be good for each other.
"I think it would be an interesting dynamic because you guys are similar. Out of the Big 3 players, I always feel like Novak's and your game kind of match up the most," Brett said.
"He doesn't play every week, that’s one of the things that might benefit. You don’t want to be on the road 40 weeks a year but neither does he. He’s probably only playing kind of the big events. Djoker, give him a call if you're thinking about it.”
