Novak Djokovic: The Mentor Behind the Scenes
Novak Djokovic has spent a career walking the tightrope between adoration and irritation. Twenty-four Grand Slams, endless records, and yet a constant split in how the tennis world feels about him. Hero to some, villain to others.
Behind the scenes, though, the picture looks very different.
The mentor hidden in plain sight
Carlos Costa, Djokovic’s physio, sees the version of the Serb that cameras rarely catch. Speaking on “A BOLA”, he painted a portrait that jars with the caricature many still cling to.
“He loves helping younger players,” Costa revealed. That help isn’t theoretical or reserved for training blocks in the off-season. It happens in the middle of Djokovic’s own work. “He often stops training to give advice to other players, even those he is competing against on the tour.”
Felix Auger-Aliassime found that out first-hand. So did Joao Fonseca.
Not long ago, Auger-Aliassime approached Djokovic for guidance. The response was instant. No ego, no hesitation. Just advice from one of the game’s greatest to a rival trying to climb the same mountain. The same scenario unfolded with Fonseca, another rising name. “People have no idea how much he helps other players,” Costa said.
These aren’t just friendly chats with players he never has to face. Djokovic played both this season. He beat Auger-Aliassime in a brutal, five-set Wimbledon quarter-final: 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6. Earlier in the year, he was on the other side of the net – and the result – against Fonseca at Roland Garros, losing 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 in a match that shook the tournament.
He still helped them anyway.
The circle extends beyond direct opponents. American prospect Iva Jovic has also turned to Djokovic for advice on several occasions. No cameras. No staged moments. Just a 24-time major winner passing on information to a teenager trying to figure out the sport.
You can question Djokovic’s popularity. You can debate his controversies. But it’s hard to argue he isn’t giving something back.
Obsession with the margins
If the mentoring side of Djokovic surprises some, his professional obsession should not.
Costa has worked with elite athletes before. None, he says, like Djokovic.
“I have never seen anything like Novak Djokovic,” he admitted. “His vision, what he puts in every single day on the court, and his intensity. I had seen something similar before, but never with Djokovic’s consistency.”
This is not just about grinding through sessions. It’s about a forensic approach to everything around them. “He pays attention to every detail. The amount of time it takes us to give him his towel… if there is something that is not planned, there is friction,” Costa explained.
That edge doesn’t stop at towels and routines. Djokovic tests his own team. He challenges them to find better ways to help him recover, train, and extend his career at the top. “He even goes as far as creating tests within the team to find out whether we are really looking for the best recovery strategies and providing the best treatments.”
One example stuck with Costa. Djokovic noticed that Jannik Sinner was doing specific eye-training work. Why weren’t they?
“For example, he asked us why Sinner does eye training, and we didn’t. He is constantly looking for ways to be the best in the world.”
Costa himself is constantly studying, taking courses with physiotherapists from other sports, trying to stay ahead. Djokovic pushes that process even harder. He sees a video, a drill, a different warm-up in a locker room, and the interrogation begins. Why don’t we do this? Should we? And, as Costa put it, “our answer can’t take too long. We are constantly looking for ways to improve.”
Keeping up with Sinner
Djokovic’s fixation on Sinner is hardly accidental.
The Italian is the current world number one. Since Djokovic last lifted a Grand Slam trophy, Sinner has taken five of his own and now leads their head-to-head 7–5. Their rivalry has shifted. Djokovic is no longer the immovable object; he is the hunter again.
At Wimbledon this year, Sinner beat him comfortably, a result that felt less like a shock and more like confirmation of a power shift. Djokovic, 37, is now chasing a player ten years younger who has built a game and a team with the precision and ambition that once defined Djokovic himself.
So he studies. He watches the eye training. He probes his staff. He refuses to accept that the sport has moved on without him.
Because the target is clear. One more major. A 25th Grand Slam. A number that would push his legacy even further beyond the reach of the current generation.
To get there, Djokovic knows he needs every edge – physical, tactical, psychological. He also knows the margins are thinner than ever.
His next step comes in Beijing, where he will play his first match since the US Open when the China Open begins on Monday, September 28. A familiar stage, a familiar mission, but a very different landscape.
Sinner is on top. The pack is younger, faster, fearless. Djokovic is still there, still hunting, still asking why, still giving advice to the very players trying to replace him.
At this stage of his career, that might be his most dangerous quality of all.
