Every star player goes through rough patches in their career. Former ATP number one Roger Federer struggles with serious bad form three years before coach Stefan Edberg arrived on his team. Despite reaching the Grand Slam finals thrice, he lost all of them before Edberg’s mentorship. Edberg’s term helped the legend but the partnership didn’t continue for long. After him, Federer appointed a Croatian coach, Ivan Ljubicic, who helped the former ATP star fulfill his Grand Slam dreams. Now this coach reveals his partnership with the Swiss legend highlighting how he motivated the latter for more career milestones.

Federer’s former coach Ivan Ljubicic revealed an unknown yet interesting fact about the Swiss legend’s Grand Slam win under his mentorship. The Croatian coach and former player joined Federer’s team in December 2015. Federer’s game changed after he recruited his childhood hero Stefan Edberg. Edberg brought technical changes in Federer’s game such as the Swiss former star started using bigger racquets moving from 90 square inches to 97 square inches. However, Edberg’s contract ended in 2015 after extending the term for a year. But that couldn’t satisfy Federer and he hired the Croatian coach to feed his hunger for more titles.

Ljubicic helped Federer win two Grand Slam titles, one at the 2017 Australian Open and the other at the 2017 Wimbledon. The Croatian coach recently narrated the story of how he motivated the former ATP number one to return to his form. “He asked me if I’d be interested in working with him. I was really surprised because I didn’t know Stefan Edberg was going to stop. I said ‘Yes, absolutely’,” Ljubicic said at the beginning. The Croatian coach was in London with Italian television for Masters when Federer and his wife Mirka invited him and his wife for dinner. The conversation is from that dinner table.

“After that, we continued to talk about goals. He asked me if I thought he could still win Grand Slams because he hadn’t won one for four years. I said ‘absolutely’… “I also said I wasn’t signing up for just one Grand Slam, I said I’d like to win several,” Ljubicic said to Eurosport. From his statement, it was clear that he had this motivational charm from the beginning that attracted the former Swiss maestro. He inspired Federer showing that the former ATP number one was capable of winning more Slams and Ljubicic also aspired for that milestone with him.

Despite his motivational attitude toward Federer, Ljubicic confirmed his doubts at the beginning. In an interview with Tennis Majors, this famous coach poured his heart out and expressed how he went through a dilemma while accepting Federer’s coaching call.

Ivan Ljubicic had “doubts” about his “abilities” during his partnership with Roger Federer

In an interview with the Tennis Major last year, Ljubicic had a lengthy discussion regarding his coaching days with Federer. The interviewer asked him about his remarkable days with the former legend and the accomplishments they had together. In his response, Ljubicic said, “I remember, of course. When Roger asks you to coach him, you say yes. I mean, it is zero doubt. But then, some time passes and then you’re like, okay: ‘well, if he didn’t win a slam in whatever, four and a half years, why do I think I’m going to be the one who’s going to change all that, or help change that?’ So there was the time there, of course, you have doubts about your abilities, in your work.” 

However, the Croatian coach highlighted how it is a common phenomenon and he got over that with time. “You just then go day by day, try to go into his head, you try to understand the way he’s thinking, what is the kind of thing that could make that little push forward, right? So then you just go through it,” he said.

Ivan Ljubicic’s motivational words truly heightened Federer’s spirit to win more Grand Slam titles. The Croatian coach’s words boosted his confidence and showed him his abilities. What do you think about their partnership?