What can Wojtek Fibak bring to Djokovic?

[Kieran]

Is he a counter-weight to Murray's Lendl? Fibak said in an article: “With Ivan advising Murray I would know what he was doing and telling him,” said Fibak. “Maybe I’m like a counterpunch–I’m someone who knows Ivan well.”

If this is Novak's thinking, will he hire somebody - maybe Moya - to counterpunch Rafa?

What could he be planning? And what happened to the old chap, Dr Cetovic - who diagnosed Nole's dietary problems while watching him on television? Anybody up to speed on the inside skinny on Novak?

 

[Moxie]

That's funny that he actually said that. (And funny the thought of taking on Moya.)

I think we had on a thread a while back that Dr. Cetovic got dumped because he wanted too much money. Funny that Novak kept the whole gang together, but dropped the one guy who changed everything.

 

[Kieran]

That's funny that he actually said that. (And funny the thought of taking on Moya.)

I think we had on a thread a while back that Dr. Cetovic got dumped because he wanted too much money. Funny that Novak kept the whole gang together, but dropped the one guy who changed everything.

That's a funny one. Cetovic made a huge difference, and what's "more money" to Novak? Unless he asked for a ridiculous amount, in which case he was right to move him on.

I just thought Moya, but it could really be anyone. I mean, is it a good idea to hire someone specifically to deal with one of your rivals, if Fibak is to be taken at face value? I'm not saying it's a bad idea, just putting the question out there...

 

[brokenshoelace]

Coaches are important, but their influence is overrated.

 

[DarthFed]

Tough to say, Novak needs a wake up call or something. For the most part he has been a punching bag in big matches for 2 years now. He is doing enough to beat the light and middleweights of the sport but once he comes up against a fellow elite player he has gone down without a whimper.

 

[Front242]

He should try José Higueras. I mean he did wonders for Roger! Or wait a minute. No he didn't.

 

[DarthFed]

He should try José Higueras. I mean he did wonders for Roger! Or wait a minute. No he didn't.

To be honest Roger didn't ever do well with any coach compared to when he was basically on his own. But it must be noted that he was on his own during the years most tennis players figure to be at their peak. I actually liked what Roger was doing with Annacone the end of 2010 and good chunks of 2011 and 2012. It's only produced one slam but that's not on Annacone, Roger left a lot of opportunities on the table with chokejobs in 2010 and 2011. But now either Roger stopped listening or Annacone settled too much and isn't doing well enough to get Roger to play more aggressively on the return especially.

 

[masterclass]

Gluten-free pierogi, barszcz, and wódka.

Respectfully,
masterclass

 

[nehmeth]

Tough to say, Novak needs a wake up call or something. For the most part he has been a punching bag in big matches for 2 years now. He is doing enough to beat the light and middleweights of the sport but once he comes up against a fellow elite player he has gone down without a whimper.

Exactly, and this seemed to be where Cetojevic was able to help him, even more than with the diet.

Not sure what Fibak can add to the mix; from what I was told - he was Vajda's choice. Whether that's accurate or not ? - there's no link (that I know of) to confirm it.

 

[Moxie]

Tough to say, Novak needs a wake up call or something. For the most part he has been a punching bag in big matches for 2 years now. He is doing enough to beat the light and middleweights of the sport but once he comes up against a fellow elite player he has gone down without a whimper.

Exactly, and this seemed to be where Cetojevic was able to help him, even more than with the diet.

Not sure what Fibak can add to the mix; from what I was told - he was Vajda's choice. Whether that's accurate or not ? - there's no link (that I know of) to confirm it.

That was my understanding, perhaps from you: that Cetojevic was as much life coach/motivation guru as diet doctor. Not sure why they don't just bring HIM back.

 

[Iona16]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/usopen/10282142/US-Open-2013-Novak-Djokovic-hoping-a-bit-of-Andy-Murrays-Ivan-Lendl-magic-will-rub-off-via-Wojtek-Fibak.html

In the week before the US Open, Djokovic asked Wojtek Fibak to work with him as a coaching consultant. A former top ten player from the 1970s, Fibak mentored the young Ivan Lendl during his own journey from flaky ingénue to worldbeater.

"The main reason is that Andy Murray has Ivan as his coach," Fibak told Telegraph Sport.

"And they thought because I worked with Ivan and I created the Lendl machine, that obviously I know Ivan. They probably wanted a counterbalance to what Ivan is doing with Andy.

I would hope he wasn't hired just because Andy has Lendl. I'm not sure Fibak should have even suggested it. You don't want to send a positive message to Novak's rivals.