Novak Djokovic had a shock exit from the Indian Wells Masters earlier this month, losing in his very first match to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in a tournament he has won five times in the past. This means Djokovic has started the year with a 7-4 record, with this being his third consecutive loss. The Serb had not lost three matches in a row since dealing with injury in 2018.
Djokovic’s quiet start to the year, which included retiring in the Australian Open semifinal despite defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the prior round, has led to some questions being asked whether a decline due to age is finally starting to register for the 37-year-old.
Speaking on the Tennis Channel, former American WTA pro CoCo Vandeweghe asked a question of his standards. “The question arises – is Novak Djokovic getting too used to defeats? It’s a strange feeling for a player when he loses a few times like this, and then you see him in the press conference smiling a little too much, and you wonder – is he not as mentally strong as before.”
In the lead up to Indian Wells, Djokovic also suffered a loss in the first round of the Qatar Open to big-serving Matteo Berrettini, the first time the Italian has beaten the legendary Serb in five contests.
However, former British number one Andrew Castle believes Djokovic is all about gearing himself towards the biggest tournaments, those being the grand slams.
“One of the central questions he has to ask himself is what will be his best preparation for the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open?” stated Castle to Globusbet.
Castle noted that Djokovic is facing a stiff challenge from the likes of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have beaten him on several occasions over the last year and brought an end to the Serb’s recent dominance over the ATP tour.
“It means, he feels he still has an edge to gain and it’s very obvious to everyone watching that there are three or maybe four players now who are probably capable of beating him. That’s a cool thing to watch in how he responds to that,” explained Castle.
Djokovic has teamed up with his recently-retired rival Andy Murray as coach in the hope of maximising his late-career results. However, Castle did have a warning for Djokovic regarding match-sharpness and the need to fine-tune his game for those bigger occasions. “You need to play matches so has Novak still got the fire? There’s a couple of questions there.”
Djokovic’s attention will now turn to the Miami Masters event beginning this week, a tournament he has won a record seven times. He begins this year’s tournament with a match against Australian Rinky Hijikata.
