Filip Krajinovic and Thomas Johannson unexpectedly part ways
Recognized as one of the most talented players born in the early 90s, Filip Krajinovic was the ATP semi-finalist at the age of 18 when he defeated Novak Djokovic in Belgrade 2010 and one of the youngsters to keep an eye on in the years to come. Nonetheless, the Serb has been injury prone since the beginning of his career, reaching the top-100 only in 2014 and failing to make an extra push and convert his talent and skills to attack the top-50. That all changed in 2017, though, after an incredible run on the Challenger Tour that saw him winning five titles and cracking the top-100 again in October.
The best was yet to come when he qualified for the main draw at Paris Masters to almost went all the way, losing in the final to Jack Sock despite winning the opening set and earning huge 625 points that propelled him into the top-40 for the first time in a career. The Serb was in a perfect position to attack even bigger results in 2018 although he couldn't continue where he left in the French capital, struggling with injuries again and winning nine matches in the first three months of the season.
That was enough to enter the top-30 but a left foot, a left ankle and hand injuries had sidelined him from the court until Wimbledon, scoring five wins by the end of the season and destroying everything he had been working for and finishing the season just inside the top-100. Aware of his abilities and pushed by the fact he has shown a high-level of tennis good enough for the top-20, Krajinovic started to work with a former Grand Slam champion Thomas Johansson in November, moving to Monte Carlo where he worked hard in the offseason and set big targets ahead of 2019.
After missing the first two weeks of the new year, Filip and Thomas traveled to Melbourne where Krajinovic reached the third round, losing in four sets against Borna Coric before scoring two wins for Serbia in Davis Cup Qualifiers in Uzbekistan. Heading back to Europe, he defeated Nicolas Mahut and David Goffin to reach the quarter-final in Montpellier, playing sharp and aggressive tennis that almost pushed him into the semi-final since he wasted two match points against Tomas Berdych. That turned out to be the last match for Filip with Johansson as his coach, as the Swede called him to announce he can't work with him anymore and spend too much time away from his family!
This came as a surprise as they were both happy with the way things are going on but Krajinovic will have to seek for a new coach now and start all over before the next tournaments he is scheduled to play. Johansson was pleased with Filip's commitment and the abilities to implement everything he suggested to him, hoping to guide the Serb towards some big wins in 2019 before this unexpected end of a collaboration.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2E6MdTw
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