Marián Vajda
Marián Vajda (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmarijaːɱ ˈʋajda]; born 24 March 1965) is a Slovak professional tennis coach and former player. He is the former head coach of Novak Djokovic, coaching Djokovic almost his entire professional career, winning 85 titles together (out of the 96 won by Djokovic). Vajda is the most successful coach in the history of tennis in terms of Grand Slam titles winning 20 Grand Slam trophies with Novak Djokovic (out of the 24 won by Djokovic).
Vajda in 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Country (sports) | Czechoslovakia (1984–1992) Slovakia (1993–) | |||||||||||
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| Residence | Bratislava, Slovakia | |||||||||||
| Born | 24 March 1965 Považská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||
| Turned pro | 1984 | |||||||||||
| Retired | 1994 | |||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | |||||||||||
| Prize money | US$756,646 | |||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||
| Career record | 119–152 | |||||||||||
| Career titles | 2 | |||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 34 (14 September 1987) | |||||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | ||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R (1991) | |||||||||||
| French Open | 3R (1991) | |||||||||||
| Wimbledon | 2R (1989) | |||||||||||
| US Open | 2R (1985) | |||||||||||
| Other tournaments | ||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | 1R (1992) | |||||||||||
| Doubles | ||||||||||||
| Career record | 23–43 | |||||||||||
| Career titles | 0 | |||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 118 (16 April 1990) | |||||||||||
| Coaching career (1995–) | ||||||||||||
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| Coaching achievements | ||||||||||||
| Coachee singles titles total | 85 | |||||||||||
| Coachee(s) doubles titles total | 1 | |||||||||||
| List of notable tournaments (with champion) 2× Career Grand Slam (Djokovic) | ||||||||||||
| Coaching awards and records | ||||||||||||
| Awards Best coach by the Olympic Committee of Serbia (2010, 2011) | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career edit
Vajda was born in Považská Bystrica. He was a member of the Olympic Team of Czechoslovakia, and in 1992 he competed in the Olympic Games of Barcelona, being eliminated in the first round by Gilad Bloom. He reached the third round of the 1991 French Open, won two singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 34 in September 1987. Vajda is a former captain of the Slovakia Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams. Vajda was the coach of Karol Kučera from 2001 to 2005.
Vajda has been the coach of Novak Djokovic from 2006 until 2017, then again from 2018 to 2022.[1][2] From December 2013 until 2016, Boris Becker was Djokovic's head coach with Vajda remaining part of Djokovic's team.[3] For his achievements with the Serbian tennis player, Vajda won the award for best coach by the Olympic Committee of Serbia in both 2010 and 2011.[4] In 2018, Vajda won the ATP Coach of the Year award.
Vajda started coaching fellow Slovak Alex Molčan in May 2022.[5][6]
Career finals edit
Singles (2 titles, 2 runners-up) edit
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | May 1987 | Munich, West Germany | Clay | Guillermo Pérez Roldán | 3–6, 6–7 |
| Win | 1–1 | Aug 1987 | Prague, Czechoslovakia | Clay | Tomáš Šmíd | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–1 | Sep 1988 | Geneva, Switzerland | Clay | Kent Carlsson | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Jun 1989 | Bari, Italy | Clay | Juan Aguilera | 6–4, 3–6, 4–6 |
References edit
- ^ "Djokovic no longer with longtime coach Vajda". March 2022.
- ^ "Novak Djokovic and longtime coach Marian Vajda part ways after 15-year partnership and 20 grand slam titles". abc.net.au. 2 March 2022.
- ^ "Novak Djokovic appoints Boris Becker as head coach". BBC Sport. 18 December 2013.
- ^ Olympic Committee of Serbia awards 2013-11-15 at the Wayback Machine, telenor.rs
- ^ "Marian Vajda to coach Alex Molcan". 2 May 2022.
- ^ "Tennis: Vajda returns to coaching". 3 May 2022.
External links edit
- Marián Vajda at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Marián Vajda at the International Tennis Federation
- Marián Vajda at the Davis Cup
- Marián Vajda at Olympedia
- Marián Vajda at Olympics.com
- Marián Vajda at Olympic.sk (in Slovak)