Djokovic woes

Djokovic said he will be reviewing his status, elbow injury and all. Given his advancing age and focusrequiring style, however, his most pressing problem may well be what’s inside his head. And for that, only time will have the answer.

Adejected Novak Djokovic faced members of the media in the aftermath of his fourth-round exit from the Australian Open the other day. That he wasn’t even sure of his fitness heading into the year’s first major tournament became irrelevant in light of his straight-sets defeat at the hands of Chung Hyeon. He arrived Down Under with relatively modest expectations; along with his entourage that included Hall of Famer Andre Agassi, he said he looked forward to reaching the second week of the Grand Slam event. And he did, but barely, and when it looked like he was rounding into form, he wound up being exposed as woefully unprepared.

To be fair, Djokovic did try his best. From the outset, even his diehard followers understood the difficulties he faced: he was out of circulation for the last six months due to injury, and it would have been foolhardy to believe he would simply pick up from where he left off. Which, in truth, was, well, underwhelming; prior to shutting down for the remainder of 2017, he appeared to be in a free fall that he attributed to physical, mental, and emotional challenges, on the court and off. Taken in this context, it’s fair to assess his performance over the last week with no small measure of optimism. He is, after all, who he is, and he will improve.

On the other hand, Djokovic did possess the pedigree to go far in the Australian Open, his prolonged absence from the circuit notwithstanding. First, it’s where he has met with success the most. Second, Roger Federer’s astounding showing en route to the title last year proved that the right combine of talent, resolve, and luck of the draw can lead to glory. And he seemed to have all three at the palm of his hands; after his supposed cakewalk against Chung, he looked primed to take advantage of a seemingly softer schedule. Instead, he couldn’t even take care of the task at hand.

True, upsets happen all the time. Then again, the manner in which Djokovic bowed to Chung could not have been anything but troubling; he was behind in every set, and had to rally just to make the numbers close. And though he did have his chances, he wasn’t the better in the big moments; that distinction belonged to his opponent, who was fazed neither by circumstance nor by the gravity of the challenge.

In his presser, Djokovic said he will be reviewing his status, elbow injury and all. Given his advancing age and focus-requiring style, however, his most pressing problem may well be what’s inside

his head. And for that, only time will have the answer.