Marian Vajda details what he has worked on with Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic's coach, Marian Vadja, has revealed some of the changes he implemented when the pair began working together again.

Djokovic reunited with Vajda and his former trainer Gebhard Phil-Gritsch during the clay-court season, having announced a surprise split from them a year ago. The Serb has just won his first Grand Slam title since 2016, and credited his team with helping him find his game again.

Vajda, in an interview with Slovakia's Sport.sk, (https://sport.aktuality.sk/c/347134/marian-vajda-otvorene-vsetko-odstartoval-telefonat-z-dominikanskej-republiky-1-cast/) said Djokovic called him in the days following an opening-round exit at Miami, his second tournament since undergoing elbow surgery. Djokovic was then being coached by Andre Agassi and Radek Stepanek, but would also soon split from them.

"He called me from the Dominican Republic," said Vajda. "We talked for around an hour. I caught him full of doubt. Novak asked me what I thought of his tennis. He was not sure about the way his game should look.

"He suggested I could coach him again. He felt he could not find the right team."

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Vadja said he then considered the offer for four days, talking about it with his family, who said they would also like Djokovic to get back to the top again.

"They helped convince me," he said, explaining that he had enjoyed his break from the game and turned down other coaching offers.

Asked if he had wanted Djokovic to stop consulting with former player and academy owner Pepe Imaz, who advocated a 'Peace and Love' approach to the game, Vajda said that he did.

"Yes...but it was not my No. 1 condition," he said. "That was speaking to Novak in person. The second was that we set specific rules and plans for the next few months. At the second tournament together in Barcelona, we had a full team, and we sat and talked."

They told Djokovic that they wanted a change in approach.

"We [said] we would not like it if those around were as intrusive as before. We wanted him to play tennis not as a philosophy but as a practice," he said. "I was not wanting Novak to be influenced by people who know what tennis is but don't understand the mentality of a top athlete. Tennis cannot be based on a philosophy. It's a mano a mano sport. If you want to be at the top, the path is through practice and repetition, playing and a good mentality.

"We all pulled towards this and worked hard."

Another priority was to build back Djokovic's physical conditioning.

"He has an athletic build ideal for tennis...but it was necessary to strengthen his muscles," said Vajda. "Gebhard Phil-Gritsch worked a lot on his fitness, and the muscle mass returned.

"We practiced twice a day at Marbella, we also concentrated on fitness.

"The first month together was very intense, but also beneficial."

Djokovic and Vajda, who reunited on a trial basis, have announced that they are going to keep working together.

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