Coaching Swiss legend Roger Federer taught Ivan Ljubicic that triumphs need the proper space to be absorbed and enjoyed.
It’s a lesson the former world No.3 revealed on this week’s episode of The Sit-Down, when reflecting on his career zenith almost 20 years ago.
In early 2005, Ljubicic was in scintillating form, reaching four ATP finals in the first two months of the season – losing three of them to Federer – before heading to Los Angeles as part of the Croatian Davis Cup team facing the United States.
But mostly, Ljubicic remembers feeling exhausted upon arrival – even though he upstaged top-10 stars Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick to help Croatia stun the American team – and then barely having time to process the achievement before racing off to his next tournament.
“Then it's Indian Wells next week and then you just keep going,” he recalled.
"There's not a moment where you sit back, and just absorb it or enjoy it. You're just thinking about the next day, how do I play, or how do I recover, or how do I travel from A to B? That's all you think about.
LISTEN: Ivan Ljubicic on The Sit-Down
"In a way, it's a little bit sad, but it's almost necessary to be able to perform every week. The moment you sit down and you turn around and you try to absorb and think about it, it's gonna sound bad, but you cannot let emotions come. That's where your performance drops a bit, and that's where you lose that stability that you need to perform week in and week out.
"Looking back it sounds like it was definitely a crazy period. But you're full of confidence, you feel good, your body's used to doing it, you just go and just perform.
“Obviously you enjoy the victories, but even in that moment, the victories do not feel as sweet as the losses are burning. And that's probably the one part that it's unfair for the top players.”
He continued his brilliant season, going undefeated in singles in the Davis Cup quarterfinals and semifinals to guide Croatia into the final.
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He also tore up the European indoor fall swing, winning back-to-back ATP titles in Metz and Vienna, then reaching consecutive Masters finals in Madrid and Paris, to debut at the season-ending ATP Finals in Shanghai.
After that came Croatia’s Davis Cup final victory over Slovakia, a first international team title for the small but proud tennis nation.
The celebratory scenes – tens of thousands of fans greeted them – when the team arrived by bus into Zagreb’s main square is something Ljubicic described as among the most emotional moments of his life.
"Still to this day, I'm sorry that after that celebration in the main square, that we didn't go to eat together as a team,” Ljubicic said.
“Right after that, you know how it is, I go home, I go see my family, and then we never get back as a team. And that was something that I regret a little bit.
“Looking back, if I can give any advice to people, and Roger taught me this more than anybody else: celebrate your victories. Celebrate them. Even the losses – if it's the final, give it time. It deserves to be celebrated.
“That's something when I was a player I didn't do enough.”
Success continued for Ljubicic, who reached his first major quarterfinal at Australian Open 2006, then his first Slam semifinal at Roland Garros four months later. He also won the Indian Wells title in 2010, the biggest trophy of his career.
But it was actually when he moved into coaching, and linked up with Federer ahead of the 2016 season, that he experienced one of his great career highlights.
"My, by far, favourite [Australian Open] memory is 2017 as a coach of Roger and that epic final against Rafa [Nadal]. It was something special,” he said.
"It was crazy. I mean, I still have chills. Not just that match, but the whole Australian Open that year was a dream. We kind of thought, you know, if he catches fire, and if he gets going, who knows? Roger can win any tournament he plays.
“But to actually see it happening, especially against Rafa in the final in the five-setter epic match, it was very, very special.
"The thing that I liked about that final was that … [at the time] it was the biggest match in history, right? There were two guys who had the most [Grand Slam] titles in history, and they're going to play each other in the final. Rafa also was coming back from the injury. Roger as well.
“They were embracing it. They really said: ‘Yes, that's true. Let's see who's going to get this one’. So it was great."
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