Arthur Fils and coach Goran Ivanisevic could be a fit that brings out the best in each other

Goran Ivanisevic may have finally found the new tennis project that he deserves: the 21-year old Frenchman, Arthur Fils.

The highly touted Fils and veteran “supercoach” coach embarked on a trial period in late February, at the Qatar Open, where Fils told Tennis TV that Ivanisevic is “a hell of a champion,” adding, “Maybe it’s best for me to have his experience as a coach, and a player.”

Maybe it’s also best for Ivanisevic to have Fils’ raw talent and feisty nature to work with, now that he’s moved on from a pair of dud relationships.

The 54-year old 2001 Wimbledon champion and one-time ATP Tour  career leader in ace production worked for a brief period at the end of 2024 with the Russian (now Kazakh) star, Elena Rybakina. The experiment ended before it even really began, at the ensuing Australian Open. Ivanisevic was caught in an unpleasant crossfire between the WTA and Rybakina over the suspension of her coach, Stefan Vukov.

Ivanisevic’s previous coaching relationship was just slightly less complicated and comparably short-lived. In May of 2025 he signed on to guide Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had been feuding with his father/coach Apostolo. Over time (and partly due to injury), Tisitsipas had dropped from his career high of No. 3 to outside the ATP top twenty. In desperation, he turned to Ivanisevic. But the relationship was fraught from the start. The way it ended spoke volumes about both men -  but also about coaching on the main tours.

At Wimbledon, Tsitsipas retired during his first-round Wimbledon clash with Valenin Royer.  Frustrated, Ivanisevic went rogue, publicly accusing Tsitsipas of neglecting his fitness, and his career in general. The 54-year old Croatian coach said that left him unable to perform his “duty” as a coach.

“I was shocked. I’ve never seen such a poorly prepared player in my life,” Ivanisevic told SportsKlub, a Croatian television network, in a candid interview from London. “Me, at my age and with this bad knee, I’m three times in better shape than him. I'm not sure what he was doing in the previous 12 months, but his current shape is very poor.”

In a few weeks time, Tsitsipas terminated the relationship with an Instagram post. He wrote, "Working with Goran Ivanisevic was brief but an intense experience and a truly valuable chapter in my journey. . . I have only respect for Goran -- not just for what he's achieved in tennis, but also for who he is as a person. I wish him nothing but the very best moving forward."

There’s a lot to be said for the kind of civility Tsitsipas showed in his termination message, and Ivanisevic’s criticism could be interpreted as a betrayal of the confidential nature of the player-coach relationship (There’s a reason many coaches decline to speak with the press). But Tsitsipas’s remarks also point to the unnecessary and often saccharine opacity that accompanies so many pro tour bust-ups.

Fans aren't owed and certainly don’t need to be privy to personal information and details when players and coaches divorce, but every Instagram post announcing a break doesn’t have to read like a Hallmark greeting card, either. That doesn’t look classy. It looks soft and, of course, disingenuous. More worthy of a politician than an athlete.

The loose cannons among us are really valuable, and there have been few truth-tellers in tennis as bewitching (not to mention amusing) as Ivanisevic. Has any coach ever offered a better or more honest description of the job at the highest level than Ivanisevic, describing what it was like to guide Novak Djokovic to his record 23rd Grand Slam title in Paris in 2023?

“He chain[ed] us with handcuffs for three days,” Ivanisevic said, smiling at his own exaggeration before dropping his truth bomb. “Let's put it this way. He is not easy guy. Especially when something's not going his way. But we are here to [offer] our back and to get beaten, you know. That's what the team is for.”

If the Frenchman's health holds up, a devastating serve and forehand combination, coupled with his extreme athleticism, will provide Ivanisevic with plenty of clay to mold.

Oh, yes. Novak Djokovic. Mr. Goat  had Ivanisevic planted in the player box as he secured Grand Slam titles Nos. 13-24, after which he let Ivanisevic go - and hasn’t won a major since. The two recent misfires obscure the role Ivanisevic played for Djokovic, especially on the shot that was Ivanisevic’s specialty, the serve.

In a recent edition of Andy Roddick’s podcast, Served, player/analyst Chris Eubanks noted that the element players marvel at these days is the quality of the Djokovic serve. In this late stage of his career, the Serbian star moves his serve around and hits his spots with preternatural accuracy and consistency, keeping returners off balance without the use of a bazooka.

“Go and find some video from back in 2007 or 2008 to see how the serve used to look,” Roddick suggested. “It looked like he was throwing grenades. . .The difference is incredible. Over time, he’s gone from being maybe below the tour average to being maybe one of the 10 best servers, ever.”

Ivanisevic had done similar work before. He coached fellow Croatian Marin Cilic through the most fruitful days of his career. Their partnership lasted for three years, culminating when Cilic won his only Grand Slam title at the 2014 US Open. The Ivanisevic influence was so profound that Cilic adopted a carbon-copy of the trademark Ivanisevic service action.

Although Fils has had worrisome injuries, his upside by all accounts is tremendous. He’s already had seven wins over Top 10 opponents and been ranked as high as No. 14 (spring of 2025). But he was derailed by a season-ending stress fracture sustained at Roland Garros. Fils, who stands 6-foot-1, lost some 15 lbs during his hiatus. He returned with a bang in early February, battling to the final at the recent Qatar Open (l. to Carlos Alcaraz). However, Fils was forced to pull out of the Dubai ATP event with a hip injury.

If the Frenchman's health holds up, a devastating serve and forehand combination, coupled with his extreme athleticism, will provide Ivanisevic with plenty of clay to mold.

“I think Goran can do some good work with Fils,” Tennis Channel analyst Jimmy Arias told me recently. “The Fils  serve was one of the things that needed work. And I do think he's [Ivanisevic] is probably very good at that. And then, if he's that into the ‘I'm 54 and I'm in better shape than him’ mentality he’s going to work Fils hard.  It’s all good things.”

Fans are keeping their fingers crossed Fils.  And perhaps for Ivanisevic as well.