Goran Ivanisevic heaps praise on Novak Djokovic after sixth Wimbledon title

According to one of Novak Djokovic's coaches, former World No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic, the 20-time Grand Slam champion has to be killed 27 times and will probably still get up.

“He's like in the movies. You have to kill the guy 27 times and still, he gets up and you have to kill him again and he gets up, he gets up,” Ivanisevic said in a press conference after Djokovic won his sixth Wimbledon title on Sunday after beating Italian Matteo Berrettini. “This is great. I'm proud to be there and to witness that, to be part of that. (He) is going to make history, I strongly believe he will do it.”

Next up for Djokovic, calendar-year Grand Slam

Djokovic is aiming for a calendar-year Grand Slam, winning all four Grand Slams in the same year, having won the first three major championships of the season in the form of the Australian Open, the French Open, and the Wimbledon Championship, he now will have set his eyes on the upcoming US Open to achieve something only one man has done before in the Open Era, Rod Laver back in 1969, to lift all four Grand Slam titles in the same year.

“Everything is possible. I'm not going to say (he will win) 30 (Grand Slams) because it's a long way. But five, six, seven years ago, we were talking about (Roger) Federer, only about Federer. Now you have (Rafael) Nadal and him competing (for) who is going to be the best ever,” Ivanisevic said. “For me, Novak is the best ever. He's writing history. He's going to do it (at the) US Open. I strongly believe he's going to do it, he's going to win all four in one year.”

“Working with him is a privilege, is an honour, it's everything, but it’s not easy. It's a lot of pressure. (Making the) final is not good enough. We count only wins,” Ivanisevic said. “It’s pressure. It's not easy. But it's fun. It's a challenge. He is writing history. Unbelievable. When he won (Roland Garros), he came here very confident, played with a lot of confidence, played good. Some matches he didn't play well but still won. That's why he's such a champion.”

Ivanisevic did not believe that anybody this century would be able to challenge for a calendar-year Grand Slam. But he feels that Djokovic could.

“We are from (the) Balkans. (For) people from (the) Balkans, everything is possible,” Ivanisevic said. “When nobody expects anything, we create everything. We are very, very special, special people there.”

Ivanisevic pointed out whether Djokovic is at his top or not, he finds a way to win

“He is (getting) better and better. He's competing better every day. He's (an) unbelievable competitor, unbelievable. Something new every day,” Ivanisevic said. “Even when he's not playing the best tennis, he's winning. So imagine when he's playing (his) best tennis, it’s impossible to beat him.”

“It’s impossible that you can even believe that you can beat him, because the guy is unbeatable at the moment,” Ivanisevic said. “It was tight against Shapovalov a little bit, but still he came up with some unbelievable shots. He produces some unbelievable things on the court. He's amazing.

“Every day (is) something new, something better, better, better. And he's not going to stop. He just doesn't want to stop.”

(Image Credits: AP)