Novak Djokovic will head into the French Open with a revamped coaching setup, with Viktor Troicki stepping in as head coach, the 24-time Grand Slam champion confirmed on Wednesday.
Speculation had built around the appointment after Troicki was spotted alongside Djokovic during a Tuesday practice session at Roland Garros, where the Serb trained with Alexander Zverev. Djokovic ended the speculation himself with a social media post on Wednesday evening, days before the tournament’s main draw begins.
“Welcome my friend, teammate and now coach… Viktor Troicki,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram.
A familiar face. Troicki, a former world No. 12 and Serbia’s current Davis Cup captain, is no stranger to Djokovic’s inner circle. The pair are childhood friends, came up together through the Serbian system, and faced each other 14 times on tour — a Lexus ATP Head2Head series Djokovic leads 13-1, with Troicki’s lone win coming at their first meeting in Umag in 2007.
Troicki was also part of Djokovic’s coaching team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the Serb captured a long-awaited gold medal — the one major prize that had eluded him throughout his career. That experience appears to have laid the groundwork for the formal appointment now.
Another reset. The move marks the latest chapter in a turbulent coaching year for Djokovic. He parted ways with Andy Murray in May 2025 after a six-month partnership that yielded a Miami Open final but no titles, then worked with longtime friend Dusan Vemic through Geneva and last year’s Roland Garros. Troicki now becomes the third head coach Djokovic has named in roughly 12 months.
Form a concern. Djokovic, who turns 39 on Friday, arrives in Paris on the back of a sparse and uneven season. He played the Australian Open final in January, losing to Carlos Alcaraz, fell to Jack Draper at Indian Wells, sat out Miami and Monte Carlo with a shoulder issue, withdrew from Madrid, and lost his only clay match of the year at the Geneva Open. The world No. 4 will be seeded third at Roland Garros following Alcaraz’s withdrawal with a wrist injury.
The stakes. This will be Djokovic’s 22nd French Open appearance — extending his all-time record for major main-draw appearances to 82, surpassing the mark he shared with Roger Federer and Feliciano López. He has lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires three times and is chasing both a record 25th Grand Slam singles title and his first major since the 2023 US Open. A title in Paris would also complete a quadruple Career Grand Slam, a feat no man has ever achieved.
With top seed Jannik Sinner attempting his own Career Grand Slam and the draw thinned by Alcaraz’s absence, the door is open. Whether a coach Djokovic has known since boyhood can help him walk through it begins to be answered next week.
