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Novak Djokovic splits with coaches Andre Agassi and Radek Stepanek

Novak Djokovic ends association with Radek Stepanek and Andre Agassi after failing to find his touch upon returning to circuit after long injury lay off

By Unnikrishnan
Novak Djokovic will prepare for the clay court season under a new coach

Bengaluru, April 4: Novak Djokovic ended his association with tennis coach Radek Stepanek and mentor Andre Agassi ahead of the upcoming clay court season.

"After Miami, Novak Djokovic and his tennis coach Radek Stepanek decided to end their cooperation

"The private relationship with Stepanek was and will remain great, and Novak has enjoyed working with him and learning from him," Djokovic wrote in a statement that was released through his twitter handle.

"He remains grateful and appreciative of all the support he has received from Radek during the last period.

"Novak remains focused and eager to come back stronger and more resilient from long injury break that has affected his confidence and game.

"He is continuously and passionately looking for new and different ways to regain winning form.

"Djokovic will upon his short holiday with a family start his preparations for the clay season and upcoming tournaments.

The cooperation between Novak and Andre Agassi has also ended," the statement read.

Agassi admitted that he and Djokovic failed to agree on a number of issues, but said he has no regrets about the partnership.

"I wish him only the best moving forward," he said. "With only the best intentions, I tried to help Novak. We far too often found ourselves agreeing to disagree," said Agassi.

In an honest interview with with Tennis World USA,Radmilo Armenulic, a tennis pro and contemporary of Djokovic, accused Agassi of not knowing what to do to improve Djokovic's game, adding that the split was long overdue.

"I was opposed to that co-operation since the first day because he didn't do anything for Novak," said Armenulic.

"I think Novak helped him more because he made Agassi a coach. He left because he didn't know what to do.

"He never worked as a coach and had no experience how to help Novak.

"Novak plays from the baseline better than Agassi and his return is better. Then how can Agassi help him?"

Story first published: Wednesday, April 4, 2018, 17:18 [IST]
Other articles published on Apr 4, 2018