Novak Djokovic: Strange to see Ivan Ljubicic with Roger Federer’s camp

Roger Federer has fallen to Novak Djokovic in the important matches the last two seasons. In an attempt to help him get past Djokovic’s domination in their head-to-head series, Roger Federer has replaced previous coach Stefan Edberg with former pro and coach Ivan Ljubicic, who is Djokovic's friend.

"Yes! Honestly, yes! But you know, again, we are professionals,” Djokovic admitted to The Straits Times when asked if it's strange to see a friend with his rival's camp. "He (Ljubicic) knows my game, he knows the game of all Roger's opponents, and I think that's one of the reasons why Roger has hired him."

Djokovic, who describes the Croatian coach as a “great guy” who has composure, went on to state the he wishes Federer and Ljubicic “all the best” in their future campaigns as part of one team.

"Whether it's going to work or not, that's something to see for all of us,” Djokovic, the current World No. 1 added.

Djokovic and Federer are two of the best players in the world today with the latter considered among greatest of all time in the sport owing to his world record 17 career Grand Slam titles. Djokovic is climbing the ranks of the all-time greats list however, having 10 Grand Slam titles across his name, tied for seventh place (along with American Bill Tilden) for total Grand Slam wins.

Djokovic has won more than half of his Grand Slam wins total in 2014 and 2015 and in three of those finals, he has beaten Federer in the championship round. Djokovic beat Federer in the final of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, 6–7(7) 6–4 7–6(4) 5–7 6–4, 2015 US Open, 6–4 5–7 6–4 6–4 and 2015 Wimbledon Championships, 7–6(1) 6–7(10) 6–4 6–3.

With the new ATP season about to start this week, it would be interesting to see how Federer will fare against Djokovic with the former having a coach like Ljubicic, who is familiar with Djokovic and the Serbian’s playing style.