Ugo Humbert publicly denied claims that he is about to hire Goran Ivanisevic as his next coach as the 26-year-old revealed he couldn’t believe what he was hearing when the rumors got to him.
Recently, the world No. 17 split with Jeremy Chardy, a former French star who worked with him in the last few years.
After the Australian Open, Ivanisevic also left Elena Rybakina’s team after the chaos that was created by the Kazakh’s decision to bring back Stefano Vukov to her team.
Goran Ivanisevic© X screenshot
In recent days, a rumor started to circulate that Humbert may be interested in hiring the Croatian coach, who won 12 Grand Slam titles during his tenure with Novak Djokovic.
But now, the Frenchman is personally calling fake news on that, while also suggesting that he prefers to work with French-speaking coaches.
Humbert: I was that Ivanisevic was mentioned, I said, ‘What are they talking about?’
“I already have a team around me. Jeremy has left, my team is fine as it is, I’m not necessarily looking for someone else,” the six-time ATP champion told L’Equipe.
“If ever, at some point, I need an additional person, I’ll think about it but for the moment it’s not at all the priority.
“Having a foreigner is a bit complicated for me. Speaking English, all that, I’m not sure I’ll have 100% of the relationship…
“That’s why I prefer to have someone who speaks French, in order to express myself, say what I think and understand, too.
“I saw that Goran was mentioned, but I said to myself “what are they talking about?”
After splitting with Djokovic last April, Ivanisevic took a break from coaching.
When Rybakina reached out to him in late 2024, he thought it was an exciting opportunity that he waited for and accepted the job.
But then, he was left blindsided by the Kazakh returning Vukov to her team and left her team after only collaborating during the United Cup and the Australian Open.
Tennis World USA