Struggling Djokovic could skip Wimbledon
MANY strange things have happened with Novak Djokovic since he won the French open title a year ago.
And stranger things will have happened than him deciding to take a break, and even skip Wimbledon, after his near humiliation at Roland Garros yesterday.
The 30 year-old Serb would not rule anything out after, most uncharacteristically, rolling over to be beaten 7-6, 6-3, 6-0 by outstanding young Austrian Dominic Thiem in their quarter-final.
Asked if he might consider taking some time out, he replied: ‘ Trust me, I’m thinking about many things, especially in the last couple of months. I’m just trying to sense what’s the best thing for me now.’
Djokovic admitted frankly that he does not know what his next move is.
He likes the idea of working with Andre Agassi — who left at the weekend to go on a family holiday — but the nature of their relationship sounds extremely vague.
In fact you wonder if the very part-time status of this much-hyped arrangement might end up being more of a problem than a solution.
‘obviously there have been a lot of changes with the team and so forth. So I’m excited to work with Andre and the new team,’ said Djokovic.
‘We’re going to try to get together in Wimbledon but, I mean, that’s all for now.
‘I was planning to play only Wimbledon. I might play a lead-up event, I might not. I’m not really sure.
‘So I’m just figuring it all out and trying to be in the moment. We’ll see.
‘obviously it’s not an easy decision to make, but I will see how I feel after Roland Garros.’
Djokovic (right) will now fall to world No 3 for the first time since 2011.
There is the sense that he is being pulled in different directions, such as developing a keen interest in his own spirituality, while his wife Jelena is expecting their second child. What is for certain is that he looks disconnected with his own game compared to the incredible level he reached 12 months ago.
‘I’m not close to my best, I know that,’ he added. ‘It’s an opportunity for me in a way, some kind of lesson to be learned and to kind of progress in whatever way life wants me to.
‘It’s a whole new situation I’m facing, especially in the last seven, eight months, not winning any big tournament, which hasn’t happened in many years.’ THE watching John mcEnroe referred to what he and former Swedish great mats Wilander had been through.
‘ I can speak from some experience, that when you lose that edge and you think you have everything going your way, neither one of us ever got it back,’ he told Eurosport.
‘motivation, injuries, family — all these complicate things. But this is unbelievable, it looks right now like he doesn’t want to be on the court.
‘It’s almost as if you can’ t believe what you are watching.’
Sorting out his coaching situation would appear to be the priority for Djokovic, finding someone who can travel with him. Veteran Czech player Radek Stepanek is a name that will have been mentioned to him.
Djokovic’s former coach Boris Becker urged him to sort the situation out.
Becker said: ‘He started to work with Andre — a new super-coach.
‘However, Agassi missed the second week when Djokovic needed him there the most. He has to find a new tour coach.
‘This has to happen fast and not during Wimbledon because he has to take advantage of the next three or four weeks to come back.’
Yesterday was not so much a defeat as a surrender, impressive though Thiem and his glorious singlehanded backhand were.
The first set took 73 minutes, the last one just 20, which indicated just how much Djokovic subsided.When they met in the quarter finals 12 months ago the now world No 7 took only seven games.
Thiem’s kick serve worked a treat and will need to do so again when he faces Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.
The Spaniard cruised through when his opponent Pablo Carreno Busta retired injured at 6-2, 2-0. Neither player has dropped a set yet, but in the case of Nadal he could be worried that he has had it too easy so far.