Coachless Djokovic & Rybakina X Ivanisevic | Mailbag

On the Mailbag, Gill Gross answers your comments, including: why is Novak Djokovic still yet to hire a coach, will his former coach Goran Ivanisevic help Elena Rybakina, will there be a new slam winner in 2025 and who is most likely, why has Stefanos Tsitsipas struggled this year, how will Carlos Alcaraz's 2024 be remembered, was Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray a better grass player, and what matters more: titles or consistency.

00:00 Intro
01:25 Coachless Djokovic
07:10 Rybakina X Ivanisevic
16:10 Tennis Channel News
18:30 Elections Like Tennis
20:11 Perricard, Draper, Fils
23:37 2025 New GS Winners
27:50 Ruud in Turin
30:16 Tsitsipas Status
37:55 Alcaraz's 2024
40:08 Nadal vs. Murray Grass
44:15 Titles vs. Consistency
47:07 2-week Masters

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Gill Gross provides in-depth ATP tennis analysis. Match breakdowns, draw previews, the latest news, and other tennis insights...

[jonbonesmahomes]

As a Croatian, i still remember where i was on that 3rd Monday, when Ivanišević won Wimbledon as the lowest ranked player ever.
Switched off my television so many times due to nerves.
And then went outside to play some football on our playground which was surrounded by the 3 big skyscrappers, and i could listen to literally every point cos the balcony doors were open in every flat and tv’s were so loud .
That was crazy.
16 years old back then, and playing tournaments at that time, leftie as well.
Those were the times.
Congrats Goran, you can do a lot with Rybakina.

[jasko]

Novak doesn't need a trainer. At all. If Ivaniševič takes Rybakina she would make her unbeatable. She has capabilities as no one, but stability in play is her bigest ishue. Goran would fix it and add much more.

[jackloughridge]

Great video as always Gill. Don’t agree that Murray had a better grass career than Nadal though. Nadal made 5 Wimbledon finals in a row (with one skipped through injury) and Murray made 3. I don’t think winning Queens can make up for that difference especially considering that Nadal skipped the lead ins after 2008.

[Zenavesta]

The Masters are too long! Tough to commit to following them. Used to be able to pick a Masters and watch a decent amount of matches; now it’s too much time spread out. And yeah, the player gym/training stuff too

[carlosdias]

Djokovic doesn't need to "reinvent" his game to beat Sinner and Alcaraz. He beat Alcaraz at the Olympics and made a good match against Sinner at Six Kings Slam, where both of them were playing for real. Also, Djokovic was clearyl injured at Wimbledon Final, where, yes, he was destroyed by Alcaraz. I think he only needs more focus against Sinner, in some aspects, especially at taking rhythm away from him. Sincerally, I didn't understand the first question from the subscriber, except the part about coach. I do think Djokovic should hire a coach, but doesn't need to reinvent anything

[domagojhrgovic]

Đoković doesn't need a coach at this point. Ivanišević and Rybakina could work very well.

[joannemoore]

Excellent mailbag Gill, balanced and thoughtful as ever. Also can I say a big thank you for the Draw, i look forward to that dropping each week and there's always something of interest

[Tuzzz]

I think as far as new slam winners are concerned: All it takes is for Sinner to get suspended for a couple of months or his body breaking down somehow (which has happened in most of his losses this year), and Alcaraz underperforming like he does sometimes (he did in both the USO and AO), and Djokovic not to be able to perform anymore to the level he used to bring in 2023 and before.

If those three things combine, then you only have Medvedev left as a former slam winner as a contender. But he only has a reasonable chance to win it in 2/4 slams anyway

[nunomartins]

novak basically changed his whole team in march, nobody really knows why but he seemed to be cutting costs, only travelling with a couple of guys...it doesnt inspire much confidence tbh lets see if he rebuilds it in the offseason and hires a coach, if he does it means he is serious about tennis if not i dont think he plays much longer, might even retire next year

[POK]

Now that Murray has retired, Novak should call him up to see if he’s interested in coaching

[TopEveryThing-yipy]

Bro Wheres 3 podcast Waiting patiently 🙏🏻😭❤

[stephenhero]

I keep missing the mailbag! *sigh* I actually had a similar question to the one about new GS winners in 2025, but I think there's a difference (my question is not specific to 2025). A couple years ago, I asked who you thought would be the next first time Slam winner. You actually answered Rune over Sinner (which I think was perfectly reasonable in the moment given what seemed to be their trajectories at the time). I think it was clearly between those two players. Now I feel like this question is much harder to answer because of Rune's regression and because no one other than Zverev, at the moment, seems all that close and no one really trusts Zverev to pull it off. Would you go with Draper now over Rune or do you think it's going to be a while and it's more likely to be a prospect like Mensik? Or would you just default to Zverev? I honestly have no idea what the answer is!

[Drubujo]

Hey Gill, I believe (and hope) that you are incorrect about still needing TC + as a separate package from the DTC streaming service. The news release on the TC website says that the new service will include all content previously available through TC+. I'm very excited about this!

[joshforde]

Glad you're optimistic about where Tsitsipas might go next year, Gill. I just can't make myself optimistic that Stefanos will get back to where he used to be and challenge for big titles away from Monte Carlo again, though I did think he looked good at the end of the year relative to the rest of the year on hardcourt.

[FullOnK]

The conversation about Djokovic here today is interesting. The talk makes it feel like he is in his mid 20s when things like wanting to ask him if he plans to play head coachless for "the rest of his career" That might be 6 months. Maybe a year. It could be over in early February or sooner. He is not going to continue swallowing losses and NOT winning a major or even a big Masters event. Every loss is devastating. Just it was watching Rafa look plain on clay this year. At this point in his career losing in the SF or F of a major event might be tougher to handle than getting punched out earlier. He will be done sooner rather than later. If he fails to win at the AO (I predict he won't) he may call it a day. It would not surprise me at all. He is done winning majors except I think he has one more shot to take one at the AO this year.

[MaxDangVu]

Just a tiny correction on Ruud: he also made the 2021 ATP Finals semi final (lost in straights to Medvedev).

[TopEveryThing-yipy]

I think marian vajda can be great again for djokovic

[HeavyTopspin]

Let's remember that GMP didn't play an ATP main draw in 2024 until Lyon - all his matches were Challengers and Qualifiers. Now he's going to be entering most tournaments with a seed, and should have a relatively easy path to the top 20 by the time RG rolls around, just by playing well - win a 250 or two, play to his seed in the 500s and 1000s, and make it to the second week of AO he'll be in the top 20 by spring.

[Tuzzz]

Is it even best that Novak gets a coach that motivates him? We all act as if more motivation and discipline and work ethic is always better. It is maybe if you want to get the best results, but is it still the wisest choice for Novak to have his main aim in life to get the best results out of tennis? Maybe the genuine best choice for Novak would just to naturally let his motivation slip away and get ready for the next chapter of his life

[mariepelletier]

you forgot to add that Djokovic was fried at the US Open from going to the Olympics in Tokyo and then getting to the finals (6 matches played) and he was spent. Had he not gone to the Olympics he probably would have won his career Grand Slam.