Novak Djokovic adds Dusan Vemic to team as assistant coach

Novak Djokovic, who recently stopped working with Boris Becker, has added Dusan Vemic to his coaching team.

Vemic will assist Djokovic's longtime coach, Marian Vadja. A former ATP player who reached the Top 150 in singles and No. 31 in doubles, he coached Djokovic during the Miami Open, and has also worked with him in previous years. Djokovic recalls the two of them training at the same club when he was a child and Vemic was the top player from Serbia.

"I've known him since I was five, six, seven years old," Djokovic told reporters in Doha, where he is competing this week. ''He was always treating me very friendly; always kind, helpful, always available for any advices ... I think that relationship that we established at that time kind of carried on all the way to this moment. We are more than friends. We feel like we are family.

"It's great to have him on board, because we [worked] together in 2012, I think, and '13, and then several years we didn't ... And now he's back as a second coach in the team, officially .. He's quite a calm guy. Him and Marian get along very well. So [they’re] keeping things very simple."

The world No. 2 is among several top players who have two or more coaches. Pepe Imaz, a former player and academy owner, was also recently in the Serb's box at tournaments. Djokovic, who stressed the importance of having a strong team, varies between having one or both coaches with him at events.

"I like to have at least one coach that can give me that perspective, somebody I can discuss with about my game and things that I need to work on," he said. "Many times you cannot really see things technically or tactically concerning your game, so that's somebody that's obviously tracking that and following you and giving you their input.

"There are periods where you need that voice in your ear more than some other moments, when you need things simple and quiet."

Djokovic, who has gone five tournaments without winning a title, is the defending champion in Doha.