The injury woes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal contributed to Novak Djokovic’s roller coaster season. This is the theory of his coach Boris Becker.
It has been a far from smooth ride for Djokovic and his camp during the second half of the year. Shortly after lifting his maiden French Open title, the Serbian encountered numerous setbacks as he struggled with motivational and injury issues. Since his Roland Garros triumph, the 29-year-old only managed to win one title in seven tournaments (Toronto Masters). As a consequence of the lull in his form, Djokovic squandered his number one position to Andy Murray earlier this month.
The misfortunes of Djokovic come during a year where two of his biggest rivals struggle with injury. Roger Federer ended his season after Wimbledon due to his knee, whilst Rafael Nadal has been troubled by his wrist since the clay-court swing of the tour. It was an opportunity for Djokovic to extend his stronghold on the tour, but it never happened.
Numerous theories have circulated about what exactly happened to the man who won $20 million in prize money last year. Fatigue, loss of love for the sport and injury was the most prominent explanations. On the other hand, Djokovic’s coach believes it was something more complexed.
“He didn’t have any opponents anymore,” Becker said during an interview with CNN’s World Sport show. “His time was with Nadal, with Federer. Andy was always the fourth guy.”
Concluding that a player’s performance was hindered by the absence of his main competitors is a fair one. After all Djokovic has engaged in epic battles with both players on the tour. Then again, the same can be said about his meetings with Murray.
Djokovic has played Murray in the final of 18 tournaments since 2008 with seven of those occurring in grand slam tournaments. Djokovic knows better than everybody else about who he faces on the court. Shortly after his final loss at the year-end championships, the 12-time grand didn’t blame others. Instead, he was gracious about his straight sets dismissal.
“I just played very poorly, made a lot of unforced errors from the backhand side. It just wasn’t my day.” Said Djokovic.
“Every day you feel different. I guess this was one of these days where I didn’t feel the ball as well as I wanted it. That’s all I can say.”
The honest response of the world No.2 is a reflection as to how he is. Never afraid to admit his mistakes and not blaming other factors when thing doesn’t go his way. It is part of the reason as to why he has such a dedicated fan base.
Whatever happened to Djokovic over the past six months was unfortunate for both him and the world of tennis. He is human and we have to respect that. On the other hand, Becker’s theory of blaming the below-par performance on the absence of others is one that doesn’t quite fit the working ethic of Djokovic.
“Hard work, commitment to the sport. It all starts with you at the end of the day because it’s an individual sport. You need to be able to put in all these hours on the court and off the court, understanding what makes you better.” Said Djokovic in 2015.
Djokovic didn’t experience a decline because he didn’t have two of the greats challenging him. He declined because he is only human. Once that fact is accepted, he can resume his quest to reclaim the world No.1 ranking.
