Ivanisevic says Djokovic can still chase LA28 Olympic dream

Goran Ivanisevic believes Novak Djokovic has a real chance of making it to the 2028 Los Angeles Games, pointing to the Serbian’s habit of leaving nothing to chance.

Djokovic’s plan to keep playing until LA28 has been met with some skepticism, largely because he will be 41 when the Olympics begin. Even so, his recent results have continued to show that he remains a force at the top of the sport. He was runner-up at this year’s Australian Open and later reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, a run that came soon after he turned 39.

Ivanisevic, who coached Djokovic from 2019 to 2024, compared the veteran’s mindset with that of other elite sports figures, including Lionel Messi and LeBron James. Speaking to Croatia’s Sportske Novosti, he said: “Amazing, they are geniuses, there aren’t many of them. They invest a lot, they take care of themselves, they pay attention to every detail.

“Here, Novak pays attention to the playing schedule and in the end the only question is how much he will have left.”

He added that Djokovic’s path is different because tennis places the burden on one player alone.

“That’s the difference, because LeBron has four others around him, Messi has ten. Novak has to push himself, push his limits, turn up for training and go through the shots he’s hit eighty billion times over again,” he explained.

“And sometimes you have to ask yourself, ‘what the f*** is this for?’ It pulls you back in again, you know you can do it, but, I mean, it’s easier in a team sport.”

Ivanisevic also said Djokovic’s lighter schedule could help him manage the final stretch of his career. “He’s saying he’ll play until the Games in Los Angeles, and we’re talking about two years. Honestly, knowing him, he’s capable of pulling it off with the schedule he’s on, with an incredible, special head on his shoulders,” the 2001 Wimbledon winner said.

“It’s possible. Ultimately, he’s right behind [Jannik] Sinner, [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Alexander] Zverev today, or, you could say, the four of them are a cut above everyone else, so why not?”