{"id":273792,"date":"2025-11-20T15:36:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T15:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/273792\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T15:36:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T15:36:14","slug":"novak-djokovics-son-warned-he-faces-unreal-challenge-to-become-a-top-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/273792\/","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic’s son warned he faces ‘unreal’ challenge to become a top player"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic<\/a> has revealed his son Stefan could be dreaming of following in his father\u2019s footsteps with a move into tennis, yet coaching guru Patrick Mouratoglou<\/a> admits that dream will be laced with challenges.<\/p>\n

The 24-time Grand Slam champion spoke about his son\u2019s tennis ambitions when he sat down for an extended interview with Piers Morgan last week<\/a>, with Djokovic confirming that if Stefan tries to make it in tennis, he will not be his coach.<\/p>\n

It may seem like the greatest player of all-time would be the perfect coach to his own son, but Mouratoglou has suggested he would be the worst candidate for the role as his investment in his son would be too intense.<\/p>\n

The former coach of Serena Williams<\/a> and Naomi Osaka spoke on LinkedIn and revealed his personal experience of parents having a negative impact on the development of their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Novak Djokovic says he wants to be his son\u2019s father, not his coach, he\u2019s touching the heart of the biggest challenge for any parent in sport: knowing where the line is. Most parents cross it without even realising,\u201d said Mouratoglou.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/p>\n

Patrick Mouratoglou admits he was \u2018losing every day\u2019 and was \u2018deeply depressed\u2019 in emotional Tennis365 interview<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Patrick Mouratoglou believes Holger Rune\u2019s devastating injury could be the \u2018best thing\u2019 for the Dane<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cLast week, in Piers Morgan\u2019s podcast, Novak Djokovic said something incredibly wise about his son who has \u201cgood tennis genes\u201d and who is passionate about the sport: \u201cI want to be his father. I don\u2019t want to be his coach:. And I think every parent in sport should listen.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything Novak said makes perfect sense. If I had to give advice to his son, I would never tell him to try to become a professional tennis player. Not because he\u2019s not talented, but because the mountain he must climb is unreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, if Novak\u2019s son chooses this journey, then Novak\u2019s approach is exactly right: Support him 100%. Believe in him. Be behind him. But don\u2019t coach him. Of course, there are exceptions, but precisely there are exceptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the mission of every parent. Because coaching is not \u201csupporting.\u201d Coaching is stepping into the arena yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mourtoglou went on to reflect on the role parents have in the development of a tennis story, with so many examples down the years of negative interventions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost parents who coach their child don\u2019t do it for the child, they do it because they want to be part of the story. But they are not trained for it,\u201d he added. \u201cThey don\u2019t have the distance, the experience, or the emotional separation needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNovak knows this better than anyone. His father was extremely involved in his early career. At some point, Novak had to tell him: \u201cPlease step away. I need to build myself as a person. I need you as a father, not as a coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this is why it can become dangerous. When a player loses, which happens all the time, the emotional negativity becomes shared. There is no buffer. It damages the relationship every day. And the bond between a parent and a child is infinitely more important than any tennis result.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve lived it myself: my own children play tennis, and I decided very early: I will never coach them. Not because I don\u2019t know how, but because coaching them is not what they need from me. They need emotional stability, unconditional support, belief.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Novak will help his son in another, much smarter way: By choosing the right people around him. The best coaches. The best fitness experts. The best environment. Because he knows the sport better than anyone, and that is how he can truly help.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, the role of a parent in sport is simple: be the safe place, not the source of pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic has revealed his son Stefan could be dreaming of following in his father\u2019s footsteps with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-273792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}