Boris Becker recently shared his take on Novak Djokovic's persistent struggles in 2024 and pinpointed the root cause.
Becker coached Djokovic to win six Grand Slams between 2014 and 2016 and is usually credited for helping the Serbian become a mental monster during their time together.
So, if there is one man capable of assessing Djokovic's current season, it has to be the German tennis legend. The ATP World No. 1 has not won a single title in 2024, and failure to add to his tally at Roland Garros would equal his longest trophyless run to start a year.
Djokovic was beaten by Czech rising star Tomas Machac in three sets in the Geneva Open semifinal. It was far from a convincing performance from the 37-year-old, who will head to Roland Garros low in confidence.
Becker, who spoke to Tennis365, said that Djokovic's dip this season is a combination of many factors. He highlighted the defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Davis Cup semifinals last season as a critical moment that "hurt" his former charge.
"I think losing the Davis Cup for Serbia hurt him a lot. That took a lot of juice away from him and some of his magic. This year he has not been the same. He has never got his best form and every match has been a struggle."
"This is the overriding question, what keeps on driving him after the year he had last year when he won three out of four Grand Slams, being in the final of all four and then winning the ATP Finals, you ask what is next."
Furthermore, Becker explained that Djokovic's inability to stay consistent in the first half of the season was partly due to his perpetual perception that he would get it right at his next tournament.
Instead, shock defeat to Luca Nardi in Indian Wells and Casper Ruud in Monte Carlo followed, sandwiched between his decision to part ways with Croatian coach Goran Ivanisevic.
But despite all these setbacks and challenges, the 56-year-old tips Djokovic to bounce back, although he will have a tough time covering the period between major tournaments because he is playing a lot less.
"He got to the semi-finals at the Australian Open and lost to Jannik Sinner and you say, okay he a very good player. Then you think he will pick it up. He will win one of Indian Wells and Miami, then he goes into the clay court and again, it didn’t happen."
"Then comes the split with Goran and I see his match in Monte Carlo against (Casper) Ruud and he didn’t look the same old, as he did before. He has not forgotten how to play tennis, of course not, but he is only playing for the majors now and trying to cover the time in between with a few tournaments is tough, but I think he will get his mojo back."
Djokovic will play his first-round match at the 2024 Roland Garros against home wild card Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He leads their head-to-head 1-0, beating the Frenchman at the Paris Masters 11 years ago.
0 Comments