ATP Player News
Pepe Imaz Reflects on His Relationship with Novak Djokovic and the Player’s True Character
Pepe Imaz discusses Novak Djokovic’s true character and their personal relationship beyond tennis.

Pepe Imaz, the former Spanish professional footballer who served as Novak Djokovic’s mental coach starting in 2016, has spoken openly about his close relationship with the tennis star and sought to clarify misconceptions surrounding Djokovic’s persona.
In an interview with Europa Sur, Imaz emphasized that “From my experience, Djokovic is a wonderful human being, and everyone would discover this if they could get to know him beyond the player, beyond what is portrayed in the media, beyond what is portrayed in competitions.” He added that Djokovic “has a big heart,” describing him as sensitive, empathetic, generous, open, and eager to learn.
Despite these positive words, Imaz’s tenure with Djokovic’s team was not without controversy. In 2018, Marian Vajda, a former coach of Djokovic, insisted that Djokovic remove Imaz from his staff before he would return to coaching. During Imaz’s early involvement, Djokovic did not win a Grand Slam in 2017, marking his first such season since 2010, and also fell outside the world’s top 10 rankings. Furthermore, reports noted that Imaz’s presence contributed to Boris Becker’s exit from the team in December 2017. Vajda admitted in 2018: “Yes, I was pushing his end, though it was not my No. 1 condition. It was that I have to see Novak personally. The second was to set specific rules and plans in the coming months.”
Despite these challenges, Imaz remains grateful for his time with Djokovic, describing their relationship as “very close, much more personal and human than a simple professional relationship.” He highlighted Djokovic’s thirst for knowledge, his love of reading, and his openness to learning from others without prejudice. “Novak is a wonderful human being. He has shortcomings, like you and me; but he strives to grow as a person and does what he can in that regard,” said Imaz, acknowledging the difficult periods Djokovic has endured that the public may not fully appreciate.
Though the current status of their partnership is unclear, Imaz has been seen with Djokovic during training sessions in Spain and has contributed commentary during Grand Slam events.
ATP Masters National Bank Open
Sinner Maintains No. 1 as Ben Shelton’s Montreal Breakthrough Boosts Him to No. 6
Sinner stays No 1 as Shelton wins his first Masters title in Montreal and rises to a career high….

Jannik Sinner remains entrenched at the top of the ATP Rankings, marking his 61st consecutive week at No. 1 following the surge that began in June 2024. His advantage is substantial: Carlos Alcaraz sits 3,440 points behind in second and Alexander Zverev a further 2,210 points back in third. Taylor Fritz holds fourth and Jack Draper fifth, with the top five otherwise unchanged this week.
The headline movement came at the National Bank Open in Montreal, where Ben Shelton claimed his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title. With Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper absent from the draw, the field opened up for a first-time Masters winner and Shelton capitalized. The American defeated ninth seed Alex de Minaur, second seed Taylor Fritz and 11th seed Karen Khachanov in his final three matches.
Shelton began the tournament at a career-high No. 7 and, after earning 800 points for his title run, moved up one place to No. 6. Djokovic dropped one spot as a result. Khachanov, who has a career high of No. 8, rose four places to No. 12 after finishing runner-up.
Shelton’s position is notable because he has only 200 points to defend at the Cincinnati Open, making further upward movement possible. Current No. 5 Jack Draper will not play in Ohio because of injury, and Novak Djokovic will not feature as he opted to take an extended break after Wimbledon. Those absences create opportunities for players near the top to shift positions over the coming weeks.
Sinner will face pressure on the points table later this summer: he is due to drop 3,000 points that reflect his title runs at the 2024 Cincinnati Open (1,000 points) and US Open (2,000 points) a year ago. Other notable movements this week include Alexei Popyrin up seven places to No. 19 and Sebastian Korda slipping 12 places to No. 42 after not competing in Montreal.
Current top 20 (points):
- Jannik Sinner – 12,030
- Carlos Alcaraz – 8,590
- Alexander Zverev – 6,380
- Taylor Fritz – 5,525
- Jack Draper – 4,650
- Ben Shelton – 4,320
- Novak Djokovic – 4,130
- Alex de Minaur – 3,480
- Holger Rune – 3,340
- Lorenzo Musetti – 3,235
- Andrey Rublev – 3,210
- Karen Khachanov – 3,190
- Casper Ruud – 2,995
- Frances Tiafoe – 2,890
- Daniil Medvedev – 2,760
- Tommy Paul – 2,610
- Jakub Mensik – 2,396
- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – 2,275
- Alexei Popyrin – 2,250
- Arthur Fils – 2,180.
Analytics & Stats ATP Masters
Ben Shelton wins Toronto Masters 1000 and rises to a career-high No. 6
Ben Shelton wins Toronto Masters 1000, beats Karen Khachanov and rises to career-high No. 6 today. .

Ben Shelton captured the biggest title of his career at the Masters 1000 event in Toronto, completing a come-from-behind 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over Karen Khachanov in the final on Thursday night. The 22-year-old American’s title run produced immediate consequences on the ATP list.
Shelton rises from No. 7 to No. 6 on the ATP rankings, passing former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic for a new career-high. It is the fourth consecutive week in which he has set a personal best; he has reached a new career-high every week in the four weeks since Wimbledon. “BEN SHELTON’S CASCADE OF CAREER-HIGHS:” appears as a concise reflection of that run.
The new ATP rankings are backdated to this past Monday, August 4th. The next update will come after Cincinnati on Monday, August 18th. Shelton made his Top 10 debut a few weeks before Wimbledon, at No. 10, after a semifinal showing on the grass of Stuttgart. With a deep run at the Cincinnati Masters 1000 event he could break into the Top 5.
Shelton is now 330 points behind No. 5 Jack Draper. He also has 40 more points dropping on the next rankings than Draper, and the Brit is also not competing in Cincinnati this year.
There was movement elsewhere in the rankings after Toronto. Karen Khachanov rises from No. 16 to No. 12 after reaching his second Masters 1000 final of his career. The 29-year-old, who won his first Masters 1000 title in Paris in 2018, reached a career-high of No. 8 the following year.
Alexei Popyrin made his Top 20 debut, rising from No. 26 to No. 19 after reaching the quarterfinals in Canada. The Australian was the defending champion at the event, winning it in Montreal a year ago.
© 2025 Getty Images
ATP Masters National Bank Open
Shelton’s Montreal breakthrough: prize money, points and ranking changes
Shelton’s Montreal title pushed career earnings past $9.18m and moved him up to world No 6. in 2025.

Ben Shelton’s run to the Canadian Open title in Montreal delivered the biggest payday and ranking boost of his young career. The American came from a set down to beat Karen Khachanov 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) in the Montreal final to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy and move his career prize money beyond the $9m mark.
Shelton had previously won the ATP 500 Japan Open in 2023 and the ATP 250 US Men’s Clay Court Championships in 2024. The Montreal title brought him $1,124,380, took his 2025 prize-money total to $3,586,088 and lifted his career earnings to $9,188,940.
Reflecting on the match, Shelton said:
“I mean, there were a lot of points, or a lot of times in the match where I felt I was resilient. Being up against it in the second set, the way that he was holding serve kind of going through his service games. He served first, so there’s scoreboard pressure,” the 22-year-old said.
“Then being down Love-40, trying to serve out the set, winning, I forget, five points in a row or whatever it was to hold that game was massive for me.
“Then just same thing in the third set. Scoreboard pressure, he’s getting through his games really easy, serving amazing, hitting great from the baseline. I just continued to match him, and keep holding, and then played an unbelievable tiebreaker. So I think that that was just kind of the name of the game for me.”
The Canadian Open is an ATP Masters 1000 event. Masters winners are allocated 1,000 points on paper, but Shelton will net 800 points at this tournament after dropping 200 points from his 2024 quarter-final result. He began the week at No 7 and moves up one place to No 6 with 4,320 points as Novak Djokovic drops a spot.
Runner-up Khachanov, who was defending 50 points, earned 600 points and rises four places to No 12. Semi-finalists earn 400 points; Alexander Zverev effectively went home with 350 points while Taylor Fritz added 390 points. Prize-money payouts extended down the draw: Khachanov collected $597,890, Zverev and Fritz received $332,180, and quarter-finalists Alexei Popyrin, Alex Michelsen, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev each earned $189,075.
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