By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Photo credit: Miami Open/Hard Rock Stadium
Novak Djokovic will be armed with a familiar accomplice at Roland Garros.
Grand Slam king Djokovic announced today he will be coached by his long-time friend and former doubles partner, Dusan Vemic, for both this week’s Geneva Open and Roland Garros, which starts on Sunday.
The 48-year-old Vemic, one of the biggest servers in Serbian tennis history, reached doubles semifinals at Roland Garros and the Australian Open during his playing days.
A highly-experienced coach, Vemic has worked with Hall of Famers the Bryan brothers, Andrea Petkovic, Brandon Nakashima and previously served as an assistant coach on Djokovic’s team to former coach Marian Vajda. Vemic was in Djokovic’s box when he won the 2016 Miami Open.
“Dusan Vemic, the captain of the Serbian BJK Cup team, he was in my team a few years ago [is my coach],” Djokovic told the media in Geneva when asked about his coach. “He’s here, and will be at Roland.
“Boris Bosnjakovic, who has been an analyst in the team and assistant coach, shares the upcoming tournaments with Dusan. And then we’ll see. I’m not in a hurry to choose, or to know if I’ll have someone else by my side or not. I don’t know. I feel good with them.”
Part of that familiarity comes from years of Djokovic’s Davis Cup and ATP Tour experience with Vemic, who is a respected technician and known as a positive presence in the coaching box. Even in the years Djokovic and Vemic were not working together, they stayed in touch as friends.
Djokovic, who celebrates his 38th birthday on Thursday, split with former coach Andy Murray after Madrid and opted out of Rome. That means Djokovic is winless during this clay-court campaign.
Asked what went wrong with the Murray partnership, Djokovic said they initially agreed to work on a trial basis and he felt the partnership simply ran its course.
“I cannot tell you more than what you have read in our statements. We said that we were not committed to the very long term,” Djokovic told the media in Geneva. “Australia had been a test. We then said to ourselves that we were going to work in Indian Wells and Miami. On clay, we went to see tournament after tournament. And we agreed on this separation.
“We felt like we couldn’t get more out of that association on the court. My respect for Andy remains the same. And he’s even bigger since I know him better as a person. He has a brilliant tennis IQ. A rare state of mind of a champion.”
Despite their shared knowledge, Djokovic said ultimately the pair of Olympic gold-medal champions did not achieve their title aspirations.
“He sees the game in an incredible way,” Djokovic said of Murray. “But, how could I say it, we did not achieve together what we hoped to achieve in terms of results. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We tried.”
Olympic gold-medal champion Djokovic will face veteran Marton Fucsovics in his Geneva opener tomorrow.
“There were some days when [my training] was very good, others when it was more complicated. But all this is normal,” Djokovic said of his preparation for Paris. “I’m excited to play a match on clay. I haven’t played many this season. I still haven’t even won one…
“From this point of view, it is not ideal. I hope I can play more than one here. I hope to ‘build’ my form before the main objective on this surface that Roland-Garros represents, and to play better than I have in the last month and a half.”
