I came full circle with Wimbledon in 2014. Thirty years after walking into the ground for my first main draw tournament as a player, I walked in as the head coach of one of the front-line favourites for the title. I was used to walking through the gates of the All England Club, but I hadn’t played tennis at Wimbledon for many years, I hadn’t been to the practice courts, and it was odd not to be wearing a suit but tennis clothing. But I had a mission – to see Novak Djokovic to a second Wimbledon title.

My appointment in November 2013 as Novak’s new head coach had been a big story. In short, people were shocked that he had asked me. I was obviously surprised about some of the reactions. If there’s one area where nobody should doubt my knowledge, it’s tennis. We can’t disagree that my eyes are blue – even if you don’t like me, my eyes are still blue. So by the same measure, even if you don’t like me you still have to respect my knowledge about the sport. But that’s the world we live in. We live in times of a very powerful media. Social media is partly responsible for that, but written media is too. Headlines, for instance are important – without headlines you don’t make the story – but headlines don’t make the truth, they’re just selling points.

I understood that some people wondered whether I could put my knowledge across to Novak in a way that would help him play better. After all, I had never coached a top-level player. But people were dismissing me because I’d been ‘just a commentator’. As a commentator, I may be sitting and talking about tennis, but I still have to provide some substance. When you commentate on a Wimbledon final, you can’t just joke around. You have to be serious, or the broadcaster – the BBC in my case – won’t let you commentate again. You have to come up with some kind of information that’s new, accurate and valid. In fact my work as a commentator allowed me to help Novak, because I hadn’t been away from the game. I was in the first row when Djokovic lost to Murray in the Wimbledon final in 2013; I was in the first row when Djokovic lost to Nadal in the French Open final in 2012, so these matches weren’t something I’d read about in the papers. I could see first-hand the mistakes he was making, and I think that’s something people didn’t think about.

As for Wimbledon, I actually played on the courts for 15 years before commenting for 12 years, so if there’s one guy who should know a little about it, it’s me. I think maybe my image as a successful player was too big and the change from player to commentator was too much for some people to handle; then having got used to me as a commentator, the change to coach was also quite large and they had a hard time putting it together.

It all began in October 2013. I was in Johannesburg at ‘One Young World’, a conference organised by Bob Geldof and Kofi Annan which brings together the most important entrepreneurs aged 25 or under from 180 countries. There we talk about politics, economics, and things like the social importance of sports. I speak about subjects that are important and affect my life. While I was there, I got a call from Novak’s manager, Edoardo Artaldi, who I’ve known for years. It was the Saturday of the China Open; the day Novak lost his No. 1 ranking after Nadal had won the first semi-final in Beijing. Edoardo said ‘Could you imagine becoming coach of Novak?’ I thanked him for the consideration, said I was honoured and felt very humble, and suggested we meet to discuss it. We met in Monte Carlo about a week and a half later, and I asked him what I could bring to the table. That was exactly the question everyone else asked afterwards. We had a full-on 24-hour discussion about what Novak thought he was lacking, what he thought I could help him with, and I agreed. I said I thought that I had qualities which, when matched with his situation, could improve his tennis, but I had to be sure. If I get into something, I don’t do it half-heartedly; if I’m going to be away from my family for long periods, I have to know it’s worth it, and I don’t mean financially – I have to know it’s worth the effort to put my heart and soul out there.