Gebhard Phil-Gritsch in an archive photo with Novak
While waiting to find him on the field at the Italian Internationals, which starts in 10 days, from Serbia there is talk of a new rotation in Novak Djokovic’s team. According to what the national media reports Sport club, the world no.1 would have interrupted the collaboration with the physical trainer Marco Panichi, returning together with Gebhard Phil-Gritschwith whom he had worked from 2009 until the elbow injury suffered in the second part of 2016, interrupting the relationship at the start of 2017.
The Austrian, now 67 years old, should return on a permanent basis with Djokovic starting from Rome. Phil-Gritsch has rich experience in tennis, he also worked in the national teams of Indonesia and the Philippines and in the world of tennis he was alongside Thomas Muster. We read on the Serbian website that Phil-Gritsch “is considered one of the key people who contributed to Djokovic’s holistic approach to professional sports”.
Panichi began his collaboration with Djokovic in 2019, achieving great successes together with Goran Ivanisevic.
Given this new change, and the historic closeness of Phil-Gritsch with Marian Vajda, in Serbia there are those who also hypothesize a return of Novak’s first coach. However, in an interview a few weeks ago the Slovak denied this hypothesis, stating that he rarely hears Djokovic.
Mario Cecchi
