What's the Best Advice Novak Has Given Iva Jovic? | Q&Andy

“I would say the best advice he's given me is about ground stroke patterns and how to how to open the court better, finding the the angles. I play good with my depth, but sometimes finishing shorter in the court or bringing them out and in almost will then make the depth even more penetrating and surprising to them. So that's that's very specific, but that is something he told me that I think is really useful for me.”

“I would definitely say that I know every result in every tournament seems so serious and so the make or break moment, but it definitely isn't. And please, please don't be stubborn and work on the things that you know you need to work on and take some l's if you need to. That's something I could have done better, definitely. I was very stubborn with wanting to win. So do the things that are gonna make you better, and then the winning will come with it.”

“I think pressure is obviously difficult, but it means that you've done something to deserve that expectation. So you can kinda use that to give you confidence, and I think breathing always is helpful. I do certain breathing techniques before matches to try to calm the nervous system down if you're feeling nervous and the pressure. But I think you just have to know that it's normal, and it should give you confidence that people expect things of you because that means you've done some pretty good things too.”

“I love to compete. I hate to lose, and I started competing in tennis. And I kinda just got obsessed with the with the process, getting better. Again, the competition, I wouldn't trade competition for anything else. And out of all the sports I played, I was the best at tennis. Right? So I wanted to do that. I really think the sport chooses you. And if you love to compete, you're gonna do what you're good at.”

“Nerves always exist. Like, people always say, how do you not get nervous? I'm like, well, you don't. You just manage it better. Right? Like little techniques like she mentioned, they don't go away. Everyone has ever played tennis. It's okay to have nerves. And you can acknowledge it too. I have a lot of parents who say you can't say you're nervous. I'm like, you can't deal with the problem if you can't talk about it.”

“I personally love watching Iga, especially on the clay because some of those runs she's had, especially at the French Open, have been ridiculous. I mean, not losing games, but the way that she's able to open up the court and play with different spins and shapes to push her opponents back—the way she moves, I think is very dynamic. And I think when she's playing her best, it's fun to watch.”