"Novak Djokovic wants to take over Federer & Nadal": Tamara Zidansek's coach Mike Digby opens up about the Big-3, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner & more

Tamara Zidansek, the Slovenian tennis sensation, created history by surviving a three-hour-41-minute-long battle against Argentinian Nadia Podoroska in the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open in Hua Hin. At the time, the match featured fourth on the list of longest WTA tennis matches in 2024.

Zidansek won 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(3) after saving four match points in the decider. Soaked in sweat, she ended the match with a crosscourt forehand winner and immediately turned towards her coach Mike Digby, who stood up raising his arms in jubilation.

Unfortunately, Zidansek and Digby didn't get another chance to celebrate in a similar fashion for the remainder of their stay in Asia as the tennis player failed to move past Slovak Rebecca Sramkova in the Hua Hin semifinals. And as fate would have it, Zidansek flew to Beijing for the China Open qualifiers only to suffer an injury against Sramkova in her first outing.

Digby, aged 27, joined forces with the Slovenian tennis pro as a full-time tennis coach right before the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. Zidansek currently sits outside the Top 200 in the WTA rankings but was once the World No. 22 and reached the French Open semifinals in 2021.

She and Digby are striving to reach similar levels and the latter has seen enough tennis to make that possible. He has had a journey of his own, being a hitting partner for the likes of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, and others.

Digby reflected on his association with tennis in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda. He told us a trick to differentiate Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal on the tennis court even with a blindfold on, shared his first impression of Alcaraz, and commented on Sinner's doping controversy.

Exclusive interview with tennis coach Mike Digby

Sportskeeda: First of all, congrats on a successful run in Thailand. Obviously, it didn't end well for Tamara in Beijing, but thoughts on how her tennis has been this season so far?

Mike Digby: "Yeah, I mean, she's had a tricky couple years. It's been, you know, some difficult times for Tamara with, I think the ranking dropping a little bit with a few long-lasting injuries and I think naturally just a drop in confidence levels really, which I think, it's one of the most talked about topics on Tour, is confidence, belief, but often isn't addressed enough."

"So I think my biggest reflections, and this is massive praise to her as the last six to eight weeks, we've kind of taken a different path. We've gone down a little bit more of a proactive type approach to her tennis and the way she's looking to play. And she's fully bought into those ideas that I've brought in."

"I think in Hua Hin in Thailand was a testament to that. So I think she's been doing really good. She's in a much better headspace. And I hope that the byproduct of that for me is always the results in the ranking. Hopefully, we'll move in the right direction."

Sportskeeda: Certainly! You talked about confidence… I think you were not with her when she made that dream run to the semifinals at Roland Garros. But as someone who has seen tennis from close quarters, how does a tennis player feel after going through such a run and witnessing a sudden drop in their level?

Mike Digby: "Yeah, it's a really good question because I think you see it maybe more and more in the women's tennis now where you'll have players, it looks like it's out of nowhere, but sometimes it's actually not that kind of make semis of a Grand Slam or final of a Grand Slam. And then the next kind of year, you don't really hear too much about them. And I think my big thing on this is just management of expectation, I think, is arguably one of the hardest things as a tennis coach, but also one of the most important things."

"So, you know, if we look back at when Tamara made semis at Roland Garros, she beat some very good players in that tournament, kind of a little bit of a breakthrough for her. But I think, and also she would agree, it's more important than managing the expectations day in, day out and the next six months than it necessarily is to chase more results like that. Because I think that, again, we talk about process. I think if your mind is fully focused on the process of developing your tennis, developing yourself as a person, then I think those types of results will start to creep up more consistently."

"So I think the challenging thing for her over the last, you know, kind of 18 months has been the management of expectations and trying to find people around her that I think are in line with making sure that she stays on the right path as opposed to chasing results or chasing a ranking."

Sportskeeda: Yeah! But you know, chasing certain rankings or titles might not be the right way to go, but some tennis players actually thrive on, setting such targets, I believe. With someone like Novak Djokovic, there was this element of chasing the Big Two that, you know, kept him motivated early in his tennis career.

Mike Digby: "Yeah. I mean, the keyword that you used there was motivation… because am I saying that rankings and titles and everything don't matter? Absolutely not. Like, I want Tamara to be the best possible ranked tennis player and win everything. But we don't do that by solely focusing on that, because that brings a severe level of frustration when that potentially doesn't happen."

"So, like, and I've had the privilege to spend a little bit of time with Djokovic and other tennis players like him. And it's a motivation for them, not a target. And he is extremely motivated and always wants to be the best player in the world, the best player ever and take over Federer and Nadal, whatever that means, you know, but he was never to the point where, you know, it's a goal. It's just a really strong motivation."

"The goal was to make sure that he is improving his tennis and developing his game every day. But the motivation is to be World No. 1, is to win Grand Slams, of course."

"So I completely agree with you. We can't just sit here and say that tennis players just focus on the process because, of course, players focus on the ranking results. That's why they play, right? And that's also in many ways why we coach, I want to see my player grow as a player. I want to see them grow as a person, but I also want them to do that while they're winning lots of tennis matches and having a hell of a success."

"So I think the biggest reason why Djokovic has had all of the success he has is that not one day goes by where he's just standing still. He's constantly trying to evolve as a player and as a person."

Sportskeeda: But, you know, that seems to be changing ever since he wore that gold medal in Paris. He's taking it a bit lightly these days.

Mike Digby: "Yeah, yeah. I mean, look we can't blame him. He's now achieved everything that you can possibly achieve in tennis. Right. So I think he's now of the elite of the elite status. And, if it means that he picks and chooses what he plays for the rest of his tennis career, I think he's earned the right to do that. Yeah."

Sportskeeda: True. So, tell us a little bit more about your experience working with Novak.

Mike Digby: "Yeah. So I, kind of, did it through Wimbledon. I wasn't with him directly, but when I was playing college tennis in America, I ended up doing a few years of like a hitting partner role at Wimbledon, which for me at the time, obviously, was amazing. I absolutely loved it. Surrounded myself with some incredible players. And yeah, it was a pleasure to do it."

"And when I was a kid, I used to go and watch Wimbledon. I used to go to Wimbledon, as often as I can, where my parents would take me. So to be able to then go and practice with all these players and learn from the coaches that were coaching them was obviously a dream come true. And I ended up spending a number of days with Novak, many players, not just Novak, [Daniil] Medvedev, some stuff with [Naomi] Osaka."

Sportskeeda: Great! I think you have hit with Federer and Nadal as well.

Mike Digby: "Yeah. I hit with Federer quite a bit."

Sportskeeda: Yeah, so, any tennis conversation is basically incomplete without these three, the Big 3. So, my very simple question on them to you is how would you differentiate Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic if you were playing them on the tennis court blindfolded?

Mike Digby: "What a question. That's a brilliant question. I feel very privileged to answer that actually."

"It's difficult because they all bring an aura. I speak about this word a lot, like an aura to the tennis court. They have such a strong presence, but if I was blindfolded, they have very different auras. So I would say Federer, you can feel his presence just through pure quality of ball striking, just the sound of the ball off the strings, the elegance that he brings when he does it, just the calm and class that he brings, you can just feel it."

"But on the flip side, Nadal would be someone that you can hear, right? So, we talk about senses, like you take sight out of it. You can just feel Federer's aura without having to hear him. Nadal, his aura comes through what you hear through the heaviness of the strike, through the grunt, obviously, through the feet that you can kind of just hear him scurrying his feet."

"And I think Novak has a blend of those two, but would probably, and I don't mean this word in a bad way at all. Cause I think as a tennis player, you have to have a little bit of this. He has a bit more of an arrogance to him. And I love that about him. That's genuinely not a negative comment at all. I think that if he didn't have that, he wouldn't be the Novak Djokovic that we all know. And I think it makes him who he is."

"It makes him, in my opinion, the greatest that has ever played the game purely from a tennis standpoint. And so, yeah, if I was blindfolded, I think those would be the types of things that I would probably feel and hear really."

Sportskeeda: That’s one fine answer!

Mike Digby: "And I think, it's often looked at in a very judgmental light, isn't it? A lot of people judge him for that, but I think what we always have to understand is that everyone competes in a different way. Everyone has different competitive skills that they're going to use, that they'd like to use, that helps them win tennis matches. And, Djokovic does it in a way that it can sometimes come across a little bit arrogant, but like I said, would he be who he is and would he have had the success that he did have if he didn't have that bit of edge to him? I'd argue maybe not."

"I am absolutely sure he would have been very successful, but I think that gave him the will and the determination to go, ‘You know what? I don't like the name, the Big Two, I want it to be the Big Three.’ And I think it gave him a little bit of like inner-strength to be able to just start poking at these two until he's found a way in and then the rest is history."

Sportskeeda: Yup, history! That brings us to someone who has the potential to rewrite tennis history… Alcaraz! You have hit with Alcaraz as well. What was that experience like?

Mike Digby: "I've been lucky enough to hit with both Alcaraz and Sinner actually and they've both got some similar traits. I hit with them both very young."

"I mean, Sinner I hit with last year, but I hit with Alcaraz when he was 18 or 19. It was in 2021 on the clay at the Madrid Open. And, I actually warmed him up to play Nadal in the second round. I think it was on his birthday, which is quite surreal. And there's one thing that I remember from that hour that we had is the amount of confidence that was oozing through the way he played at that age was not, I've never seen it before in my life. Just so secure. So, comfortable in the environment and the surroundings that he was in."

"And you think Masters 1000 Madrid at 18, 19, it's daunting. And you're playing Nadal. It's daunting."

"But he just took it all in his stride. He had this presence and aura, even at that age of like, ‘Yeah, this is where I'm going to be. This is where I belong. And I know I'm going to be here for the rest of my tennis career.’ And again, we talk about his word arrogance. It was the arrogance, but it wouldn't come across as that because he had a smile on his face and walked around saying hello to everyone. But it was that sense of real confidence and arrogance around the way he was doing things."

"And it was, yeah, I honestly can't remember whether he beat Nadal that year. I think it was the year after he beat Nadal, but I could be wrong."

Sportskeeda: He beat Djokovic and Nadal both in 22 in Madrid.

Mike Digby: 'Yeah you're right. So yeah, phenomenal. An amazing experience to see someone. And then I probably could have said he's going to be at the top of the game. You could just feel it."

Sportskeeda: Djokovic has said that Alcaraz has the best of the Big Three. He has the elegance, shot-making of Federer, power of Nadal and the attitude of Djokovic. What is your assessment of that comparison?

Mike Digby: "Look, Alcaraz has had the privilege of growing up seeing all of those three play tennis, right? So like he's, without him probably even realizing, in many ways, molded his game as I did when I was playing. Like to the people that I watch week in, week out, you know, and I think that I agree with Novak completely. He absolutely does have the traits of all three of them, physicality with his movement, like Nadal, the elegance gliding across the court, like Roger and just this grit that, you know, Novak has to just find himself in situations and find a way out of it."

"But I think that tennis now and in the modern day, it's become so physical that the thing that most impressed me, which maybe you could argue Federer, Nadal and Djokovic maybe didn't have at a younger age purely because the game was a little bit slower, is he's so physically capable at such a young age, which I don't think maybe Federer, Nadal or Djokovic had as much of at the between 16 and 19."

Sportskeeda: Right! So, would you like to put a number? How many Grand Slams for Alcaraz? 20? 24?

Mike Digby: 'Oh, I've thought about it a lot and had many discussions with tennis coaches on this. If I had to put a number on it, I would go 15… between 12 and 15, I would say."

Sportskeeda: So he is going to surpass [Pete] Sampras?

Mike Digby: "Yeah. So hard. It's so hard for me."

"But the one thing that I would say, and again this is my opinion. I've had discussions with other people and this is, I'll be very surprised if he gets past Roger on 20."

"I don't think we can comprehend yet how impressive that is to get to 20, Nadal to get to 22 and Novak to get to 24. I think in the next 10, 15 years, people will realize how impressive that is."

"And I really hope that Alcaraz completely proves me wrong, because I would love nothing more than him to go and blow all those guys out of the water and show you've done it, now I'm going to do it. So that's not me putting a cap on because the sky is the limit for him. It's just incredible the tennis that he can produce."

Sportskeeda: You are actually breathing the oxygen of Spain, so must say something nice about him.

Mike Digby: "Haha! I hope that gives me a form like Alcaraz."

Sportskeeda: Ah! Are you still harboring any thoughts of going professional?

Mike Digby: "No, not anymore. Like no chance. When I was in college, I had aspirations to play professional tennis, but I think when I started to do the hitting partner stuff and, when I got to like 19, 20, I realized that, I can play, I would say that I'm a good player, but it wasn't near the level to be able to push up high enough on tour to make a living out of tennis."

"And I think that my strengths probably were more in the coaching route. And I've really enjoyed... I'm so passionate about helping elite performers try and find those marginal gains to make them that little bit better and achieve things that they want to achieve. I get a real buzz out of that."

Sportskeeda: When did your hitting journey start? Do you remember like the first tennis player that you hit with?

Mike Digby: "Yeah, I remember the first tennis player that I hit with. I'd have to rack my brains on that one, but I remember how it started. So I was playing college tennis. I was back for the summer. I was in my second… sophomore year and I picked up a little bit of an injury actually near the end of our season, nothing crazy major, but it meant I had a week or so out and was rehabbing it. And I got back and I wanted to go and compete."

"I played the German league over in Germany at the Bundesliga out there over the summer, but I couldn't do it because I was just injured. I wasn't ready to compete. And a few people that I knew, knew the guy that ran the practice desk at Wimbledon and, basically said, ‘Look, they were looking for a left-handed hitting partner!’"

"Luckily I was left-handed to come in and do a couple of weeks hitting at Wimbledon. And I was like, ‘Of course, great. Like I'm not ready to compete at all, but I can definitely practice."

"So, I remember going in and yeah, I can’t remember whether it was the first one but it was definitely very very early on practicing with John Isner, and then also [Fabio] Fognini, and just a little bit surreal and a lot, you know, when I was growing up, they were both around Top 20, Top 10 in the world. So, that kind of how it all started then really, it kind of just kicked on from there."

Sportskeeda: Okay. So, you started with the men…

Mike Digby: "Everyone really! Like it was just, I think within those two weeks, I probably hit with at least 30 to 40 players, ATP, WTA, singles and doubles, and was just soaking it all up."

"I hit with a very young Naomi Osaka, which was really interesting. I also hit with a young Medvedev, Gael [Monfils]. So yeah, it was lots of, lots of good tennis players that I was learning a lot from. Yeah."

Sportskeeda: You have also hit with Simona [Halep] and other WTA players. So that brings me to my next question. I mean it's a staple question… there are certain notions in tennis like men hit harder than women, and there are shots that women really don't really go for, say slices, men have more variety. How much of it is true?

Mike Digby: "I mean, I'm not sure whether you saw the stat in US Open. [Aryna] Sabalenka. She was hitting the ball harder than the men."

"So I think my biggest thing on this is I would say that the men hit the ball faster, but the women hit the ball harder. And what I mean by that is the revolutions they're getting on the ball, what they can do with the ball, the ball can jump a little bit more, the ball can, maybe they can open up the court a little bit more."

"I would say it has a little bit more variety and on the spins and speeds that the men can do, but the general power and speed, the women, some of the women can just hit the ball so, so hard."

"Yeah. It's a difficult one because this is very game-style-dependent."

"Let’s use Tamara for example, she builds points using a little bit more variety, using the drop shot, using the slice, being able to have her forehand to open the court a little bit more because she’s also got that skill set, something that she practiced a lot when she was a junior and that’s used in the women’s game because that can often be an asset."

"So, in general, you can argue that men have a little bit more variety but I would also argue that men build their game on taking the ball early, ripping it through the middle and that’s about it."

"But I would also say that the women, some players, you know Ash Barty, I remember [Francesca] Schiavone used to have really good chip, [Bianca] Andreescu has a brilliant backhand slice. So I would say that there’s definitely variety within the women’s game but I think it’s just used a little differently."

Sportskeeda: Okay! About Tamara, since you mentioned her building points in a certain way. What do you think are her weaknesses and strengths? What are the things that you guys are working on?

Mike Digby: "I won’t go into too much details, don’t want to give too much away (laughs). But look, Tamara’s incredibly skillful, the one thing that I’d say… her ability to open up the court with forehand, her ability to change the pace, she’s incredibly athletic and she can chase balls down."

"But I think the big thing naturally with this type of game style, what we’ve really dived into is being the one looking to dictate a little bit more, the one who’s looking to be more proactive. When you get the chance to take control of the point, are you doing it through increasing the speed of the ball? Are you doing it through changing the rhythm? Are you doing it through opening up the court? We're having a lot of work right now on being the one who looks to dictate because if you’re not dictating, then you’re running."

"And the reality with women’s tennis especially is if you’re running, there’s only so long you can run for until you run out of gas."

Sportskeeda: So, someone like Tamara, she’s also been active on the doubles circuit and I think you’ve worked with [Gabriela] Dabrowski, great doubles player. Can you tell us a little bit about how is the teaching different when you prepare someone for doubles than say while preparing Tamara for singles?

Mike Digby: "Yup! Firstly I’d like to give a big shoutout to Dan Kiernan, who coaches Gabby Dabrowski, I kind of came in for, I think, five or six tournaments. Dan put a lot of trust in me."

"So, I think, the big thing for me is I go really basic, there’s not much change in regards to coaching the player."

"I mean obviously the tactics very different. It's a different approach to coaching but I try not to look into it too much because the reality is I'm coaching two individuals that are trying to win a tennis match in regards to Tamara and Gabby, let's say."

"But the one big thing, the big obvious change in doubles is that you can actually have more influence in the doubles match than you can in a singles match because you can run so many different plays on a doubles court that can influence the outcome much more than you can maybe influence on a singles court."

"The angles are a bit wider and there's so much more going on in a singles match that I can't control whereas if I see something on a doubles court, it's quite easy for me to say, 'Right, serve here and as partner goes here or serve to this spot and make sure that you hit your volley here.' Because if you hit your spot on the serve there's only so many ways that the returner can return at certain points that if you cover them then you're going to touch the ball on the next shot."

"Whereas in singles, I'll have similar instructions to Tamara, ‘Look like try and get the ball into this area and then look to hunt this type of shot.' But the reality is if she doesn't get it into that area, she's not going to get that next shot and then so there's only so much influence that you can have."

"But in regards to preparation, very similar. But then mid-match and coaching in the match it's very different. Yeah, it's a very different approach with a little bit more objectivity in doubles and a little bit more subjectivity in single."

Sportskeeda: Sweet! The other thing that I wanted to talk about is, you know, Tamara has suffered an injury recently… she must have had some plans about ending 2024 a certain way which I don't think will happen now or is it still on the cards?

Mike Digby: "Yeah, no, it's a very minor injury. We had a really good week in Hua Hin in Thailand but the consequences of that was that the matches she played were so long in really difficult conditions that the body just didn't quite have enough time to recover for Beijing and she felt something tweak a little bit and that was more so a precaution than anything."

Sportskeeda: Good to hear that, so what's next on your tennis calendar?

Mike Digby: "Yeah, so we have two in Mexico, 125 and the 250 in Tampico and Merida and then we have the WCA 125 in Midland in Michigan to finish the year and then she has Billie Jean King Cup for Slovenia the week after that."

Sportskeeda: If we talk a little bit further in time... how does 2025 look like right now?

Mike Digby: "Yeah, I mean, look, we obviously will have our pre-season. We'll have a bit of a team reflection on the year and things that she's done well, things that we want to improve on and set a few motivational targets for 2025."

"I kind of really started with her properly from Wimbledon. So, it's very different to starting with someone in pre-season and setting some really strong foundations than it is starting mid-season when you're trying to influence her in ways that maybe it's a little bit more challenging because she's mid-season, there's limited time to practice."

"But I think one of the best things that we did was take a couple of weeks out and have a really good mini-training block to cement a few things that we've been working on. 2025 I hope for her will be a little bit more successful, we'll put that word out there. I absolutely believe that she is of a level where she can compete with the best in the world more consistently week in week out. We just need to reignite that which we've started now and I hope that 2025 brings her some success."

Sportskeeda: Yeah, I wish the same for her. We usually talk about tennis players setting goals and targets. How about you as a coach, who do you look up to? Whose career would you like to replicate as a tennis coach?

Mike Digby: "That's a really good question. I have a lot of admiration for Darren Cahill. I think he's just, and I'm not just talking about what he's won because I think that's again, I'm sure you know by now, I'm a big believer of the processes. It very much dictates what opportunities you get."

"Just with the way he conducts himself with someone that is a very calm character, he demands high standards and he's implemented that not just in women's tennis, in men's tennis, he's done that with most players, if not every player that he's worked with. Again, we talk about aura. He brings a real presence to the court and has some really, really good ideas which I really resonated with."

"He would be one for me that I would, if we talk about replicating, I would love to be able to feel that tennis players can trust me the way that they trust Darren."

Sportskeeda: Yup, he is a great coach indeed. I think he’s one shy of getting the career Grand Slam as a tennis coach, Wimbledon it is I believe, so can we say a career Grand Slam for you as well, as a tennis coach?

Mike Digby: "I mean, that would be the dream, right? That would be the dream. I have my own targets and goals that I set myself. I do it every two, three months and also every year. I'd be lying if I said that winning a Grand Slam as a tennis coach wasn't in there. I think that would be an incredible experience to go through."

Sportskeeda: Okay, so from Darren, stems a rather controversial question, and the concluding question as well, in context of what has happened with Sinner.

Mike Digby: "Yeah. Really difficult this one for me because I am obviously not an advocate for doping in any sport, let alone tennis."

"I have practiced with Sinner quite a few times and I can only go of, you know, what I've seen. And he's such a genuinely nice guy that will ask you questions, ‘How are you? Where are you from?’ I know it sounds silly, but that goes a long way, I think, in the tennis world because so many people are very insular. They're just focusing on themselves. And I get that."

"And it's really hard for me to think that he did dope. It's hard for me to genuinely think that. I think it was potentially an honest mistake."

"Do I agree with the punishment? I don't know. I haven't got an opinion on that. I also probably don't want to give an opinion on that because I don't know enough. I think it's very difficult to give an opinion if you don't know the real details. And I guess we all have to respect that decision. Sinner is a great guy. Darren's a great coach. And I think they both deserve all of the success that they've had."