A year ago, Roger Federer stunned tennis with an unlikely triumph at Wimbledon.

Last week, 12 months on from a shock that served as a reminder that the greats can never truly be written off, it was the turn of Novak Djokovic.

The Serbian claimed his 13th Grand Slam with victory over Kevin Anderson to mark the fourth time he has been crowned champion at the All England club.

Having had to slog it out against Rafael Nadal in the semis, the final was a much more straightforward affair for Djokovic, taking just over two hours.

Yet, nobody was more surprised than his own coach Marian Vajda to see him holding the trophy aloft.

Vajda had personally witnessed the 31-year-old's struggles since reuniting with him in May 2017 and he must take a lot of credit for his role in his rejuvenation.

As just one example of how Vajda took his career by the horns, he's revealed he had to instruct Djokovic to stop seeing a spiritual guru, who he felt was distracting him.

Former Spanish tennis player Pepe Imaz runs a coaching school in Marbella emphasising 'Amor Y Paz' - love and peace - which Djokovic's camp did not feel were the right focus.

Djokovic had to make some changes 

"Yes, I wanted him to finish working with Imaz," Vajda told Slovakian media outlet sport.sk.

"First I wanted to talk to Novak in person. Second, I wanted to make a plan and rules for the following months.

"We were all together in Barcelona, we sat and talked. I told him that I did not like people from outside the team to influence him, as was the case before.

"Tennis cannot be based on philosophy. It is a man vs man sport. If you want to be the best, you have to do repetitions in training, play games and be strong mentally.

"When you see the opponent, you must focus on where to hit the ball, not think about Buddha."

Djokovic had also worked with Andre Agassi during his hiatus with Vajda, but that came to an end when the American former world number one felt he would not listen to his advice regarding nutrition and recovery from his persistent elbow problems.

The changes in his off-court team have evidently done him the world of good. 

What do you make of Vajda's advice? Have your say in the comments.