Novak Djokovic has confirmed that he has indeed replaced physio Ulises Badio with Claudio Zimaglia and has also revealed that Miljan Amanovic will join him in «certain weeks» this season. After Djokovic’s elbow surgery in 2017, Badio played a big role in helping the Serb bounce back strong.
Badio then did an outstanding job during the 2021 Australian Open, when Djokovic won the title despite suffering an abdominal strain during their third-round match. Meanwhile, Amanovic previously worked with Djokovic between 2007 and 2017, as well as from 2018 to 2022.
Last year, Djokovic announced that Amanovic would no longer travel with him but would still be a part of his team at the Novak Tennis Center in Belgrade. «The beginning of a new collaboration (with Zimaglia). I ended my cooperation with Uli at the end of last season and started with Claudio.
Miljan Amanovic will also return and travel for a certain number of weeks during the season,» Djokovic told Sport Klub.
Who is Djokovic’s new physio?
Zimaglia is a familiar fixture within the tennis community, having worked with the likes of Milos Raonic, Jannik Sinner and most recently Brandon Nakashima.
Throughout his career, Djokovic has always been known as one of the fittest players on Tour. For five seasons, Badio was a big part of Djokovic’s success. But unfortunately, Djokovic and Badio were unable to agree on a new contract and the Serb now has a new physio.
However, Zimaglia is also a respected name on the Tour and Djokovic is certainly confident that the new physio can do the job extremely well. Meanwhile, Djokovic has landed in Adelaide this week and is set to take part in the Adelaide International.
In Adelaide, Djokovic will try to get a good preparation for the Australian Open. After Adelaide, Djokovic will go to Melbourne to chase a record tenth Australian Open title. Going into the Australian Open, Djokovic is the top favorite to go all the way.
