Already established as the tennis GOAT, Djokovic has looked off colour as he faces fresh test of taking on younger, unintimidated challengers.
Since winning his first professional tennis title in 2006, there had only been two years in which Novak Djokovic has gone into the busy clay season without picking up a trophy. In 2018, when he had been recovering from an injury hiatus and in 2022, when his unvaccinated status did not allow him to play most tournaments in a COVID-derailed season.
This year, however, mid-April has arrived and Djokovic’s haul for the year remains empty. After suffering a third defeat in four outings against Jannik Sinner – on form, currently the best player in the world – in the semifinals of the Australian Open, Djokovic slumped to a third-round defeat against Luca Nardi, the 20-year-old World No. 75 from Italy, at Indian Wells.
Moving to clay, looking improved and hoping for a revival, there was another uncharacteristic loss against Casper Ruud in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters, the first major clay-court event of the year, on Saturday.
As on-court fortunes have taken a dip, the 24-time Major winner has made a slew of changes off the court. He announced a surprise split with coach Goran Ivanisevic last month, despite enjoying the most dominant period of his career under the Croat’s eyes. Last year, he separated from his long-serving management team, IMG, and parted ways with both his agent and his spokesperson.
Djokovic, who turns 37 in May, is now tasked with a very different kind of challenge – taking on the constantly improving young brigade of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, players closer to his children’s age than his, who have shown no signs of being intimidated and beaten him on the big stage.
Even though, across his career, he has made a habit of making naysayers look foolish, all signs point towards the fact that in the face of this new test, Djokovic, the men’s tennis GOAT and this sport’s perennial seeker, is looking ever-so-slightly stranded.
Concerning defeats
The Serb acknowledged his slump after his loss on Saturday. “I’m used to really high standard in terms of expectations of the results, so not having a title is, maybe comparing to the last 15 years, not a great season at all,” he told a news conference in Monte Carlo. “Hopefully, I can pick up in terms of results, (and) I can build from here.”
Ruud, who lost to Djokovic in last year’s French Open final and prior to Saturday, had never beaten a top-3 player, pointed to the fact that recent results have diminished the Serb’s intimidating aura slightly. “I think what really motivated me and helped me a bit today was maybe that I thought about, you know, he lost a match in Indian Wells to Luca Nardi, and he showed there that he’s also vulnerable sometimes,” he said.
Ruud, who lost to Djokovic in last year’s French Open final and prior to Saturday, had never beaten a top-3 player, pointed to the fact that recent results have diminished the Serb’s intimidating aura slightly. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
An 11-4 win-loss record to start the year may not be the worst of news, and many will be quick to point out that as World No. 1, Djokovic remains the player to beat. He has also made it abundantly clear that his energy is now reserved for the Slams.
But the manner of the defeats would rankle the 36-year-old more than their number. Djokovic’s marathon man reputation has always preceded. Yet, recently his opponents have had more joy by elongating rallies and waiting for Djokovic to blink.
In their match at Indian Wells, Nardi won 43 out of the 72 points with rallies that lasted over 5 shots. He won 24 out of the 37 rallies that lasted over 9 shots. After recovering from dropping the first set – which Ivanisevic described as “the worst set that I saw him play in these five years that I’ve been his coach” – it was Djokovic who retreated into himself in the deciding set, trying to simply stay in the contest with two winners and two unforced errors, while Nardi hit 16 winners to steal the contest.
Against Ruud on Saturday, Djokovic once again faced similar issues. Their head-to-head may be skewed in Djokovic’s favour, but Ruud’s gameplan against him has often made him uncomfortable. The Norwegian’s spin-laden groundstrokes bounce high on the clay and make Djokovic hit close to his ears, taking him outside of his strike zone. Ruud would also elongate the rallies in successful fashion, winning more of the rallies that lasted more than 5 shots (39 out of 73) and more than 9 shots (17 out of 9).
Even on the big stage, he has not been able to dig out results as usual. Against Sinner in Melbourne this year, despite stealing the third set tiebreaker, he was unable to bring himself back into the match and finish a trademark comeback. Against Alcaraz at Wimbledon last year, he decisively took the match into a fifth set despite being outplayed, but was blown away by the Spaniard’s low-percentage, attacking tennis in the decider.
Seeming adrift
Self-belief has always been key to Djokovic’s success, yet, in his appraisal of where things are going after parting ways with Ivanisevic, he seemed totally unsure.
“I still don’t have a clear idea who a new coach would be, or whether there will be one at all,” he was quoted as saying by tennismajors.com in March. “I’ve had coaches since I was a kid, now I am trying to feel by myself what I need.”
Djokovic has been here before. Shortly after he became the first man since Rod Laver to hold each Major title at the same time in 2016, he admitted he struggled for motivation.
There was a two-year-long period in which he struggled to put together a run. He dramatically changed the team around him back then too, enlisting the services of Pepe Imaz – a former tennis pro turned coach-cum-spiritual guru whose central coaching philosophy was ‘Love and Peace.’
Two years later, after dealing with mysterious, persistent injury trouble that eventually resulted in elbow surgery, Djokovic was out of his funk. Imaz was gone – it is not yet apparent how he influenced the Serb’s game or life, barring allegedly inspiring his trademark victory celebration, in which he extends his arms to all corners of the court, asking the audience to share the love! Long-time former coach Marian Vajda returned. Ivanisevic joined up shortly after. Djokovic went on a tear, winning 12 Majors after the age of 30.
It remains to be seen whether Djokovic, in his late thirties, will be capable of summoning the same fury again, or whether he even needs to. But just as he looks in need for inspiration, the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz are looking more and more ready to dethrone him at the top step of this sport. With three Majors and an Olympics coming in quick succession over the next five months, it should make for even more compelling viewing.
Source:indianexpress.com