Djokovic seeks answers on grass

JUST 12 months ago, Novak Djokovic arrived at Wimbledon with the world at his feet, but he returns to the All England Club with his career in crisis after an astonishing fall from grace.

Having finally succeeded in his quest to win the French Open last year, Djokovic appeared poised to join the tennis immortals.

The Serb was the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time and had won Wimbledon in 2014 and 2015, adding to his 2011 triumph.

So when he strolled on to court to face Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon third round there appeared no end in sight to Djokovic’s reign as the sport’s pre-eminent force.

Instead, he gave such a lethargic performance that Querrey was able to end the then world No. 1’s streak of 30 straight Grand Slam match victories.

It was a seismic shock and plunged Djokovic into a tailspin. Djokovic has lurched from one problem to another in 2017, losing to world No. 117 Denis Istomin in the second round of the Australian Open.

Having parted with coach Boris Becker at the end of last year, he has split with longtime associate Marian Vajda.

Djokovic has also taken to consulting with ‘spiritual adviser’ Pepe Imaz, a former player who runs a tennis academy in Spain for underprivileged children, called “Amor y Paz” (love and peace).

In recent months Imaz’s influence has been seen in Djokovic’s new habit of forming a heart shape with his hands and gesturing to the crowd after he wins a match.

Unfortunately for Djokovic, those displays of affection have been few and far between as he slumped to defeats against Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev.