The 2022 Australian Open saga woke up the 'beast' in Novak Djokovic, according to former ATP player and analyst Alex Corretja.
There might be some truth to that because Djokovic was a man on a mission when he returned to the Tour after that. The vaccination thing also contributed to him being laser-focused when he did play because he missed so many events due to his unvaccinated status.
Picture how many more trophies or Grand Slams he would have had if all of those things didn't happen to him. It defined his career in recent years, at least according to former player Alex Corretja.
He spoke to Eurosport about its impact on Djokovic because the Serbian himself talked about the experience a few times.
I think what happened to him in Australia led him to a long introspection. He dove within himself and understood who he was. And he just got deep inside his soul, his body, his mind. And from then on, he's understood and dealt with everything better. He knows the people from outside better, what they think about him. Even the fellow tennis players, which ones were a little more on his side, which ones were not.
So I think it's like it woke up a beast inside him that he had, and he's now controlling all his emotions much better than before. And I see now that even players or the crowd appreciate him even more than before because he's authentic, he's natural, he's himself, and he's not trying to go with a mass, saying things to make everyone happy.
If you looked at his career before and after, you'd certainly see domination, but it's almost a different kind. It's hard to explain, but Djokovic seems more ruthless right now, more comfortable with who he is, and none of the players is stepping up consistently to challenge him.
We'll see what happens at the ATP Finals as he takes on Holger Rune later tonight.
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