Ivan Ljubicic admits he was left "shocked" after Roger Federer reached out to him offering a coaching job and it took some conversations for the former world No. 3 to understand why the record eight-time Wimbledon champion pursued him.
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Following the conclusion of the 2015 season, the Swiss ended his partnership with Stefan Edberg. At the time, he had concluded yet another season without a Grand Slam title since 2012 Wimbledon.
Then, Federer announced Ljubicic as his new coach, who joined Severin Luthi in the coaching staff. After a knee injury and subsequent surgery marked their first year together, their second season was major success after the Swiss ended his Slam drought by winning the 2017 Australian Open and Wimbledon titles.
Ljubicic: When Federer asked me to be his coach, I was shocked
"I was very surprised but not because I didn't think that I could do it or I didn't expect it. It's because nobody knew that he was stopping with Stefan Edberg. Everybody thought it's just he did the three years with Stefan, and there was absolutely no rumors whatsoever that they would not continue," the Croatian tennis legend told We Are Tennis.
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"When he actually asked me, I was shocked at first, mostly because I didn't know that he was actually looking. Then obviously the second wave was, oh, you really think I can help you?"
After the two met in person and sat down for a talk, Federer explained to Ljubicic why he felt he was the person he needed at that stage of his career. And after the 2006 French Open semifinalist realized that it "made sense" and accepted the offer, they won three Grand Slam titles as a duo and the Swiss became at the time the oldest world No. 1 in ATP history.
Reflecting on it now, Ljubicic says Federer was "right."
The Croatian was a part of the Swiss' team until the tennis icon retired from tennis in 2022.
