5 things you should know about Ivan Ljubicic

#2 He’s close friends with Novak Djokovic

The two have played each other in the Davis Cup, among other tournaments

The two players, who have played against each other professionally, have bonded well off the court. The older Ljubicic, like Djokovic, is a resident of Monaco, and incidentally, the two are neighbours there. At the time that Ljubicic was appointed to be Federer’s coach, Djokovic implied the change had been in order to understand his game and defeat him. “He (Ljubicic) knows my game.... and that is one of the reasons I think Roger has hired him,” he said in an interview at the time.

Interestingly, the pair only played each other once since the change – and have not faced each other since the Australian Open in 2016.