Some have started to question whether Novak Djokovic could be starting to decline this season, but his longtime coach, Marian Vajda, does not believe this.
It is very rare for the 24-time Grand Slam champion to have no tournament wins to his name this far into the season. But that is the unusual reality that the Serbian legend is currently dealing with.
Djokovic lost the Monte-Carlo semifinal to Casper Ruud. Although the Norwegian is an excellent clay court player, the two-time champion in Monte-Carlo had not lost a set to Ruud in their previous five matches, making the loss a surprise.
Unsurprisingly, Djokovic could not hide his disappointment after the defeat. More positively, he did break the record for the number of semifinals reached at the ATP Masters 1000 level but that will be scant consolation to him.
However, in an interview with Ubitennis, Vajda was not panicking. He points out that Djokovic has proven people wrong on so many previous occasions, using last year as an example where he achieved amazing things despite missing many tournaments.
"Also last year he missed several tournaments such as Indian Wells and Miami but then he won Roland Garros, made the final at Wimbledon and won the US Open. So I don’t think he’s done winning and this year he’s going to prove it once again.”
Vajda did acknowledge that Djokovic now playing fewer tournaments than in the past comes with an element of risk attached, but thinks the Serbian is capable of making this work.
"The real question, I think, is whether this new method will still succeed in making him win. Because if you play fewer tournaments, you may arrive less trained than those who have played more than you. But Novak knows how to do it, he’s very smart and none of the new top players have his experience, simply because of his age."
These words may come as a reassurance to Djokovic's fans. Vajda knows him better than just about anyone. If he is confident that Djokovic will return to his best, those are words to be taken seriously.
0 Comments