Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams' ex-coaches in war of words as row gets feisty

The feud between two former coaches of all-time greats in tennis has started to turn ugly. Goran Ivanisevic, who coached Novak Djokovic for six years before splitting in March 2024, has fired the latest shot in his war of words with Patrick Mouratoglou.

The Frenchman previously worked with Serena Williams for a decade and now mentors Naomi Osaka. Both coaches have one player in common, though, having both had stints in charge of Stefanos Tsitsipas. Ivansievic ended his short stint with the Greek player in July after a turbulent two-month partnership.

The final straw for the Croat came at Wimbledon, when Tsitsipas, 26, retired from his first-round match with Valentin Royer. That prompted an extraordinary rant from Ivanisevic as he criticised his player's fitness levels.

Mouratoglou accused Ivanisevic of "throwing him to the wolves." The 55-year-old coached Tsitsipas from 2018 to 2021, during which the Greek star reached a career-high No. 3 in the ATP rankings and made two Grand Slam finals.

Sign up here to receive all the latest tennis and Wimbledon news straight to your inbox.

"I would be very surprised if they could work together effectively after Goran's comments," he added. "I feel like Goran is ashamed of the results and wants to distance himself from Stefanos, blaming the player alone."

Now Ivanisevic, 53, has hit back, telling tennis pundit Anna Chakvetadze: "If he has a problem with me, he should call me. I don't go around and talk about what I think about him. I'd better not say what I think about him."

Ivanisevic had said of Tsitsipas: "He says he wants to return to the top level, but he's not doing anything. It's always 'I want, I want,' but I don't see any progress. I was shocked; I've never seen a more unprepared player in my life. With this knee, I'm three times fitter than him."

Tsitsipas will return from his injury lay-off this week at the National Bank Open. He'll play New Zealander Christopher O'Connell in his first-round match.