Goran Ivanisevic believes Novak Djokovic transcends tennis and is one of the greatest in the history of sport.
Djokovic won his 24th grand slam title when he beat Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev over three gruelling sets at the US Open.
His Croatian coach, Ivanisevic, says Djokovic’s fighting spirit and will to win make him a sporting “genius”.
“I don’t think you can work on that,” said 2001 Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic.
![Wimbledon 2021 – Day Seven – The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club](http://image.assets.pressassociation.io/v2/image/production/635b193c1202f24501d1a3d7fe32ae00Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NTI4Mzcx/2.60755656.jpg?w=640)
“You are born. You know, some people who are born, he’s a genius. He’s one of kind. There are not too many people in this world like him sport-wise.
“This is one of the biggest achievements in sports history. We’re not talking about tennis. We are talking generally in sport.
“He’s a winner. He’s the guy who is motivating himself. He had luck to have guys like Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer, they came before him, so they pushed each other.
“But he’s a born winner. For him, when you tell him he cannot do something, it’s even worse. Then he’s going to show you that he can do it. It’s no excuses.
![US Open Tennis](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/AP/2023/09/10/8082d48a1a474e84b64d4f06ecad9752.jpg?w=640)
“He always tries to find a way to win, how to fight, even when he’s not feeling well, injured, not injured.
“It’s just something I cannot say that we’re all like that from the Balkans, because we are not. But he’s one of a kind, and that’s why he’s the best.
Banned from the US Open in 2022 due to Covid vaccination laws, Djokovic returned to become its oldest champion a year later.
The 36-year-old Serbian, back at world number one, avenged his defeat in the 2021 final against Medvedev.
🏆🙏🏼2️⃣4️⃣💜💛 #USOpen pic.twitter.com/HqWvI14E1c
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) September 11, 2023
He said: “I guess people love comeback stories. I love them too. They motivate me.
“I hadn’t played any tournament on American soil for two years, and the last time I was here I lost in the finals against the same player I beat.”
Djokovic has now won seven of the last 10 grand slams he has competed in despite the emergence of the likes of Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“You need to reinvent yourself, because everyone else does,” he added.
“As a 36-year-old competing with 20-year-olds I probably have to do it more than I have ever done it in order to keep my body in shape, in order to be able to recover so that I can perform on the highest level consistently.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here