{"id":631973,"date":"2025-09-24T10:10:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T09:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=631973"},"modified":"2025-09-24T10:10:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T09:10:48","slug":"nikola-pilic-passes-away-aged-86-all-about-novak-djokovics-relationship-with-tennis-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/nikola-pilic-passes-away-aged-86-all-about-novak-djokovics-relationship-with-tennis-father\/","title":{"rendered":"Nikola Pilic Passes Away Aged 86 &#8211; All About Novak Djokovic\u2019s Relationship With \u2018Tennis Father\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Croatian tennis legend Nikola Pilic, known for being a Grand Slam singles runner-up and doubles champion, has passed away at the age of 86. Moreover, the former Top-10 player had a close connection with 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic and his family. The Croatian Tennis Association <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/tennis\/story\/_\/id\/46355055\/tennis-great-nikola-pili%C4%87-mentor-novak-djokovic-dies-86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>announced<\/a> that Pilic had breathed his last on Monday.<\/p><p>As a player, Pilic turned pro in 1968. He played for over a decade, winning nine career singles titles and six doubles trophies during his time. Having reached multiple Grand Slam finals across categories and taken Yugoslavia to the success podium at the international level, Pilic retired to enter the coaching space. This is where his equation with Djokovic took off.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nikola Pilic, who has passed away Monday in Rijeka aged 86, left an indelible mark on the tennis world as a player, coach, captain and tournament director.<br><br>Read more about Pilic&rsquo;s legacy &#128071;<\/p>&mdash; ATP Tour (@atptour) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/atptour\/status\/1970682824975163750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>September 24, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>When American businessman Lamar Hunt was designing a new professional tour called World Championship Tennis, the Croat was one of the few players who supported it and signed a deal to be a part of this breakaway idea. The likes of Pilic, John Newcombe and Tony Roche were among the <em>&lsquo;Handsome Eight&rsquo; <\/em>who were signed.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Was the Relationship Between Novak Djokovic and Nikola Pilic?<\/h2><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title='Novak Djokovic attends screening of documentary \"Niki Pilic -The Legend\"&#65372;Tennis&#65372;ATP&#65372;Belgrade, Serbia' width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Lq_7WkHUh0s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>After retiring from professional tennis, Pilic played a massive role as a tennis coach. He led three different countries &ndash; Germany, Croatia, Serbia &ndash; to Davis Cup championships. The veteran was a tactical mastermind, and knew how to get the best out of his players. One of his prot&eacute;g&eacute;s, Novak Djokovic, claimed two victories in the 2010 final, before Viktor Troicki completed the ultimate victory for Serbia in the deciding match-up.<\/p><p>Djokovic and Pilic maintained an off-court relationship, and constantly shared ideas and tips. Slowly but surely, they developed a close-knit bond where Pilic guided Djokovic like a parent. Back when the Croatian turned 80, the now 38-year-old paid tribute to him. <em>&ldquo;He and his wife Mija accepted Jelena Gencicf&rsquo;s request for me to come to his academy in Germany when I was 12, even though he didn&rsquo;t accept players under 14,&rdquo; <\/em>the Serbian former No. 1 wrote.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nikola Pili&#263;, who guided Novak Djokovic from his early days and led multiple nations to Davis Cup glory, has passed away at 86.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2u1tVrsog7\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>https:\/\/t.co\/2u1tVrsog7<\/a><\/p>&mdash; TENNIS (@Tennis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tennis\/status\/1970553767960420730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>September 23, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p><em>&ldquo;He had one of the best European tennis academies at the time. Mija and Niki treated me as their own child and did the same for my two younger brothers. My family will always remember that.&rdquo; <\/em>Djokovic went on to talk about Pilic&rsquo;s continued love for the game, before concluding, <em>&ldquo;Niki is one of the most important tennis and life mentors I&rsquo;ve had. I am eternally grateful Mija and Niki for everything you have done for me and my family.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p><p><em>(Image Credits: Danielle Parhizkaran, Imagn Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pilic coached Djokovic &#038; Team Serbia to Davis Cup glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":631979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4770],"tags":[4917,8082,9917,4949,4936],"class_list":["post-631973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis","tag-atp","tag-davis-cup","tag-nikola-pilic","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-tennis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nikola Pilic Passes Away Aged 86 - All About Novak Djokovic&rsquo;s Relationship With &lsquo;Tennis Father&rsquo; 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