Stefanos Tsitsipas explains why he chose Goran Ivanisevic as his new coach after French Open exit
Stefanos Tsitsipas is set to begin a new chapter in his career under the guidance of coach Goran Ivanisevic, following an early exit from the French Open.
After his second-round defeat to Matteo Gigante at Roland Garros, Tsitsipas brought in Ivanisevic to work with him through the grass season.
Ivanisevic is no stranger to the big stage. The Croatian famously won Wimbledon as a wildcard in 2001 and later reached a career-high ranking of world number two. Since retiring, he’s built up substantial coaching experience, most notably with Novak Djokovic from 2019 to 2024.
In a recent interview, Tsitsipas discussed why Ivanisevic stood out among other options for his coaching team.
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Why Stefanos Tsitsipas was drawn to Goran Ivanisevic
Speaking on the Changeover Podcast, Tsitsipas outlined his reasons for choosing Ivanisevic:
“There were many other candidates before I picked Goran. I was storming through different ideas and different people that I thought would add value to my coaching situation and my game.
“I feel like Goran is very experienced on the tour; he has worked with plenty of players.
“One thing that makes him stand out is his enormous persona, and this character that he has become through tennis, and winning Wimbledon obviously, and carrying so much experience throughout his career, both playing and coaching.
“I feel like he has a lot of knowledge, he’s a very wise person, and these are the characteristics I’m looking for when I’m aiming to work with someone; these are really important qualities for me.
“It takes a lot of confidence to decide something like this, and I was quite clear and quite confident on sticking with him.”
Goran Ivanisevic’s coaching path so far
Ivanisevic began coaching in 2013 when he joined up with Marin Cilic, a partnership that lasted three years. He then had shorter stints with Tomas Berdych (2016-2017) and Milos Raonic (2018-2019) before joining Djokovic in 2019.
Under Ivanisevic, Djokovic won nine Grand Slam titles, making their partnership one of the most successful in recent tennis history.
More recently, Ivanisevic worked with Elena Rybakina in 2025, before joining Tsitsipas to help the Greek player return to form.