Novak Djokovic has lost his last three matches on the ATP Tour, with former British No 1 Annabel Croft questioning whether there is a hidden reason for his slump in form.
Djokovic produced some of his best tennis of the year as he reached the Miami Open final, but a loss against Jakub Mensik in the final of that tournament was backed up by a horrible defeat against Alejandro Tabilo in Monte Carlo and a straight-sets loss against Matteo Arnaldi in Madrid.
His latest loss inspired a deflated reaction from Djokovic and confirmation that he will not be playing at the Italian Open in Rome for the first time since 2009.
“After you lose a match, you don’t feel good, but I’ve had a few of these this year where I lose in the first round, unfortunately,” said Djokovic in Madrid.
“Kind of new reality for me, I have to say. You know, trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament.
More Tennis News
Novak Djokovic takes a huge Roland Garros gamble with major announcement
‘Novak Djokovic only cares about winning one tournament’, says former world No 8
“It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis, so it’s kind of a challenge for me mentally to really face this kind of sensation on the court, going out early now regularly in the tournaments.
“I guess, the circle of life and the career, eventually it was going to happen. Now I’m trying to, you know, use this as a driving force for the future. Obviously, Grand Slams, I was saying many times, are the most important tournaments for me.
“Which doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win here, of course I wanted to, but Grand Slams are where I really want to play the best tennis. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that in Roland Garros, but I’ll do my best.”
Djokovic made it clear last year that he was keen to spend more time with his wife and children rather than playing in regular ATP Tour events, with his family travelling with him to a lot of events in 2024.
The absence of wife Jelena and his two children from tournaments this year has been notable and while that may be because Djokovic is keen to focus on his tennis.
Now the respected Croft has given her verdict on Djokovic’s slump in form, as she spoke to Sky Sports Tennis.
“We know that his total focus is on adding to that Grand Slam tally. He wants to become the greatest tennis player in terms of Grand Slam action ever,” said Croft, with Djokovic pushing to pass Margaret Court’s all-time record by winning a 25th Grand Slam title.
“But it’s getting harder and harder, and actually, I always feel like he’s just gone a bit flat on the court as well. He just can’t find it, he can’t find that winning formula.
“He didn’t win a major last year, which was extraordinary for all four majors were slipped between [Jannik] Sinner and [Carlos] Alcarz and when I look at his results, he’s had some extraordinary losses to very low-ranked players.
“So he’s definitely losing confidence and the last great match that I think he played was against Alcaraz in the Australian Open [in January]. I mean, that win was absolutely phenomenal.
“He hasn’t been the same since, so I don’t quite know what’s going on, whether there are distractions [outside of tennis] or he’s just not happy or he’s lost confidence. But whatever’s happening, he’s not looking in great shape, heading towards the French Open.
“He has pulled out of Rome and we know that is an event he absolutely loves. So he’s not in great shape ahead of the French shape.
Croft went on to suggest Djokovic is also struggling to beat opponents who now believe he is vulnerable after a year of shock defeats.
“Everything is just looking very, very tough and uphill, and I think we mentioned the word aura,” she added. “A lot of players now walk onto court thinking, ‘Well, I do have a chance against him, because he’s not playing great’.
“ In the past, they would have been panicking about whether they were going to get games on the board, and now I think, maybe there’s a feeling when more and more players of lower rankings start to beat him, they all feel they have a chance, and that makes it doubly difficult for him.”
Djokovic could opt to play in a lower-ranked clay-court tournament ahead of the French Open, but there must be a chance now that his next match will be his first round encounter at Roland Garros.
READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic’s Rome decision labelled ‘troubling’ and ‘very strange’ as two tennis icons react
The post Novak Djokovic may have ‘other distractions’ amid slump, says former British No 1 appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply