"I was not in favour of Novak Djokovic competing in Tokyo Olympics" - former head coach Marian Vajda

Marian Vajda, former head coach of Novak Djokovic, recently said that he was "not in favor" of the Serb competing at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

Djokovic, who was gunning for a Calendar Slam in 2021, fell just short after a straight-sets loss to Daniil Medvedev in the final of the US Open. Vajda believes that Djokovic ran out of steam in the tournament due to his physical and mental exertion at the Olympics.

"I was not in favour of his participation in Tokyo, the deadlines were busy, there was little time to prepare and the failure under the five circles drained him a lot of mental and physical strength. I understood his goal - he longed to win gold for Serbia, he broke up there and then it turned out in New York," Vajda told Aktuality.

Djokovic won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon before traveling to Tokyo with his long-time dream of winning gold for Serbia. However, he faced disappointment at the event yet again, failing to win a medal after losing to Zverev and Carreno-Busta back-to-back.

The Serb played his final match of the Olympics on July 31. He then locked horns with Holger Rune in the first round of the US Open on September 1. According to Vajda, the short turnaround did not allow Djokovic to fully recover before the Slam. Dropping at least a set in all but one match to reach the final didn't help Djokovic either.

"After three grand slam championships of the season, not everything went smoothly since the end of July, culminating in New York, where he lacked the last step towards great fame. There he already ran out of strength in the finals, because he lost a lot of them at the Olympics," said Vajda.

Marian Vajda explains why he split up with Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic and Marian Vajda worked together for 15 years

Novak Djokovic and Marian Vajda recently decided to part ways after 15 years together. While the decision was made after the ATP Finals in November, it was only announced this week. When asked what caused the break-up, Vajda said:

"Due to his health as an unvaccinated player, he will have a limited number of tournaments, he may only play where he is allowed, and he already has a strong team with coach Goran Ivanišević. After considering all the circumstances, we decided by mutual agreement that we would end our professional cooperation."

Vajda also said that while the call to end their association was made four months ago, they delayed the announcement due to many factors, including Djokovic's deportation from Australia.

"In a hectic December, when he had the opportunity to go to Australia, the time was probably not the right time, and when I spoke to you in January during the Australian Open, I did not want to aggravate his situation in Melbourne, even after his deportation. It would not be respectful to pull such a message out first when he suffered greatly," he explained.

Djokovic and Vajda's partnership is among the most successful in tennis history, with the pair having won 20 grand slams together.