Novak Djokovic is no longer the ruthless tennis machine who brazenly thrived while dethroning and then dominating icons Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
That relentlessly ambitious Djokovic is gone. Today we have a man who seems more interested in building his image as a peace and love ambassador, trying to attract love and adoration from all the fans and media by behaving as a perfect sportsman.
The man who used to roar like a lion and rip off his shirt after monumental wins now likes to gather a group of ballkids to symbolically give their hearts to the world after wins. The unnatural and silly act looks too contrived and flat out phony. Even ardent Djokovic-backer John McEnroe snickered about the charade on NBC on Monday.
Andre Agassi, the new coach of Djokovic, who knows a thing or two about images, has opted to sit away from the “peace and love” guru Pepe Imaz outside the player box. If that isn’t some kind of statement, I don’t know what is.
Jim Courier has noticed a change in Djokovic’s competitive demeanor and is not impressed. The combative two time Roland Garros king they used to call “The Rock” noted he believes Djokovic needs to cut out the peace and love shtick and get back to being a vicious, ferocious fighting machine. Couier, who won four majors overall and reigned as the ATP World No. 1 player, added that Djokovic has to get focused on the job and get nastier out there.
Word has come out that Djokovic sent roses to the WTA locker room this week. Is Djokovic focused on defending his Roland Garros title? Or would he rather win a popularity contest?
Djokovic was down two sets to one to Diego Schwartzman today but ended up winning in five sets to progress to the round of sixteen and possibly a semifinal showdown with Rafael Nadal. But today we did not see anything close to resembling the Djokovic we remember at his pinnacle, the one with the burning obsession to be the best. It seems Djokovic has lost a fraction (or a lot more) of his once unquenchable desire and greed to conquer. Mike Tyson said recently that as he aged in his boxing career, he lost his “desire.”
Having earned over $100 million in his professional career, Djokovic may have lost his desire and replaced it with grander motivations and inspirations. But… “to be the best at anything you have to be willing to get blood on your hands.”
And it does not look like Djokovic has that capacity anymore.
Playing tennis as if he’s had his fangs yanked out and his claws clipped, there is absolutely zero chance Novak Djokovic will defend his Roland Garros title or win any more major titles. – Scoop Malinowski
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« Previous 1 2 3Scoop Malinowski · June 6, 2017 at 7:56 pm
Venus is a long time family friend of the Harrisons and they let Venus stay at their home in Bradenton as a base – Pat Harrison said they first met Michael around a decade ago and been close friends ever since. Venus has won three or four ATP doubles titles already so he's a veteran. This would be a huge boost for Harrison's confidence.
Andrew Miller · June 6, 2017 at 8:07 pm
Lisicki was better at it, but Kerber has moved well beyond her countrywoman so maybe being the crowd favorite wasn’t her thing. She could use it now but I think it’s the old argument, that she got here by doing what she did.
It wouldn’t hurt for her to open up a little and get away from her German-ness but again, she owes nothing to anyone, not to her fans or anyone out there. She’s a sure bet for the hall of fame and has even beat out Sabatini and Novotna and many other excellent players with only one slam to their name, because she has two of them.
I don’t know what she wants. Does she want another slam? Boyfriend problems? Is she drowning in her doubts? I don’t follow Kerber closely enough but she isn’t doing the same stuff on the court.
Could be many things. But like Scoop said and Scoops right, some dubs wouldn’t hurt to mix up her practice, and it wouldn’t hurt her to do some guest announcing to get another perspective on the sport, or to find some safe ways of connecting with fans such as the on court interviews following the match. Or dial up Graf and sob.
Andrew Miller · June 6, 2017 at 8:09 pm
Harrison in the dubs semis? How about that. Wow.
Scoop Malinowski · June 6, 2017 at 8:26 pm
Two hodge podge teams into the Roland Garros SF – Harrison/Venus and Young/Gonzalez – Venus has actually won six ATP titles with three coming in the last year – his previous best result in a GS was third round so this SF is by far his best result – Venus and Harrison will play Farah and Cabal in the SF – three or four years ago I saw Sock and Harrison lose to the two Colombians in a super breaker on court one in a loud rowdy atmosphere though it was an incredibly great match – So Harrison knows the two Colombians and so too does Venus – Harrison and Venus just won Estoril together so they are red hot and confident.
Chazz · June 6, 2017 at 8:27 pm
Yes, and Young and his partner (Gonzalez) are also in the semis. They meet in the finals if both win.
Scoop Malinowski · June 6, 2017 at 8:41 pm
I think of all the players left in the doubles draw only Zimonic has won a GS so the other will just be viciously starvingly desperate to get their hands on their first. Those finals are the best when it's four players trying to win their first GS title.
Andrew Miller · June 6, 2017 at 9:13 pm
DY! Yes!
Scoop Malinowski · June 6, 2017 at 9:24 pm
Dy has not won a singles match since Miami. Suddenly doubles filled up his confidence tank. Moral of the story. Down on their luck players: Play doubles. Play mixed doubles. Its really quite simple.
catherine · June 7, 2017 at 2:30 am
We think of Angie as a complete German, being born in Bremen and representing Germany, but of course she is half Polish and lives in Poland now, perhaps to get away from some of the attention she has in Germany, and she also has some kind of Academy there.
So maybe her mixed heritage has some effect on who she is, her identity etc but of course who knows ?
In the end it all comes down to that last question. No doubt Angie will continue her own way, closed about her private life, superficially open and communicative, free on social media etc but reserved in other ways. All we can do as onlookers is wish her the best and hope she can leave the game, when she does, on a happy note, proud of what she achieved in her great year.
Doubles – as far as I know Angie has never shown much interest in doubles – she might avoid them for tactical reasons or she couldn’t find the right partners or psychologically doubles just wasn’t right for her.
It’s probably a bit late now.
Personalities don’t change, on the whole. I think truly effective coaches are those who can latch onto some part of the player which is open to listening and learning and use that to work them out of a slump. Simona has done that with Cahill but the same strategy wouldn’t be right for Kerber – perhaps a coach is out there who knows the answer ?
Since she was a young teenager Angie has wanted to be a top player and win big tournaments – there’s a TV clip of her at 15 saying so. She’s done that. Relax into her legacy. Let the strain go – easy to say 🙂
mightyjeditribble · June 7, 2017 at 7:47 am
Have I missed something about why this thread has become comments on the doubles draw? Now, I don't mind a bit of discussion of the doubles, mind you! I do feel with the decline of the Bryan brothers, and no emergence I see of a similar storyline, interest in doubles has gone down a bit recently, which is a shame.
Henk · June 7, 2017 at 7:53 am
Thiem played an incredible and focused match. Straight sets win en 6-0 in the third. You have to wonder about Novak, the way he got blasted off the court in the third.
Today’s Thiem will be a huge threat for Rafa.
Novak after today will go down to no.4 in the rankings.
It will all depend on Thiem, Wawrinka and Rafa now who will be no. 2 after RG. I don’t see Andy winning Wimbledon, so it’sgoing to be interesting the new rankings after Wimbledon
Henk · June 7, 2017 at 8:00 am
Observing Novak today, your article is spot on Scoop!
Scoop Malinowski · June 7, 2017 at 8:19 am
So it looks like Thiem subconsciously tanked that bad scoreline loss to Djokovic and showed him his very best today. Like what Andres Gomez did to Muster the year Gomez won Roland Garros he lost a battle to Muster before Paris but saved his very best for Paris. Djokovic may need to hire Steffi too 🙂 Thiem vs Rafa…this is the one we knew was inevitable. Sticking with the Austrian destroyer.
Scoop Malinowski · June 7, 2017 at 8:20 am
Thenks Henk, Djokovic has had enough of peace and love, now he needs to hire a guru who specializes in ruthlessness and ferocity. 🙂
catherine · June 7, 2017 at 8:25 am
Went out and came back to see Djokovic score – I wonder where this leaves Agassi ? Leaving fast I should imagine.
And those flowers to the women’s dressingroom ? Should be returned to Djoko with a sympathy note.
Astonishing result.
Hartt · June 7, 2017 at 8:28 am
As a Thiem fan I was thrilled with how he played today, but was totally shocked with how Novak played in the third set. In his press conference Novak said the match was lost in the first set, a strange attitude for a champion, especially one who has come back from deficits to win big matches.
Jimmy the Gent · June 7, 2017 at 8:33 am
luv it ! down goes djoko !! thnk goodness we don’t have to see his corny antics with the ballboys.
scoop – I don’t think thiem’s gona be able to dethrone a rejuvenated rafa….not just yet but thiem’s day will come on the terre batue IMO
DOWN GOES DJOKO !!!
Chazz · June 7, 2017 at 8:56 am
Very strange post match comment indeed. This was a very symbolic win, but beating Nadal at RG would send shockwaves across the tennis world. That would indicate a true changing of the guard. Let’s face it, the Nadal-Thiem semifinal match is for the French Open title. Also, Nadal might never win another FO if Thiem wins this match.
sharoten · June 7, 2017 at 3:03 pm
Scoop Malinowski · “So it looks like Thiem subconsciously tanked that bad scoreline loss to Djokovic and showed him his very best today.”
Sheesh, Thiem didn’t tank in his loss to Djokovic. He said himself that he had emptied the tank in beating Rafa and just had nothing left the next day against Djoko. It happens all the time – in fact it’s called the Rafa Curse. His opponents have to give so much of themselves physically and mentally to beat him that the vast majority of them lose their next match.
GameSetAndMath · June 7, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Getting back to the question on OP, no Djokovic has not lost his desire. On the contrary, it is "desire" that is the root cause of his problems. 😉
Scoop Malinowski · June 7, 2017 at 10:09 pm
Gamesetandmath; Perhaps Djokovic just needs to channel his "desire" more to tennis than extracurricular activities like peace and love 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · June 7, 2017 at 10:13 pm
Sharoten; Subconscious tank also means unable to give full effort because of being physically spent. Subconscious tanks are a very vague concept theory as discussed by Jack Kramer in his boo The Game. Clearly Thiem was not all there and Djokovic was extra fired up to get the indirect win over Rafa vs Thiem. I have played matches like that after a big win and you know there's nothing in your tank but you don't quit or default but you play and you are just going through the motions – the jump and the bounce are just not there in your legs. The mind is ready for the fight but the body is not.
Jimmy the Gent · June 8, 2017 at 9:47 am
the subconscious tank has to be the biggest cop out excuse for a loss ever..
the mind does funny things – it even creates additional personalities to cope and now it deflects to a subconscious tank to alleviate a loss LOL
however I do agree with the notion of a pro sacrificing a little fish to catch the big fish (lose rome to win paris, etc.) which is called prioritization not a subconscious tank
Carol · June 8, 2017 at 1:52 pm
Novak' s problem is very simple, he is going through a bad patch like others have gone before but he is trying to find the answer saying this and that and getting crazy, changing coaches, empty mind, he needs vacations etc etc etc and not recononzing that sooner or later it had to happen, he is just human like everybody
El Dude · June 8, 2017 at 3:42 pm
Carol said:
↑
Not only is he going through a "bad patch," he's going through what ever great player has to go through: going from being on top to adjusting to a lower level. There seems to be a kind of denial at play: "Why aren't I the best anymore? What do I need to tweak to get back to my best?" Maybe what is required is a kind of acceptance of not being the best anymore, but also the drive (desire) to be as good as one can possibly be. As I've said before, Novak can look to his two elder peers for ways to make this adjustment with grace and determination. But what won't work, as you say, is thrashing around and looking for excuses, or some quick and easy way to fix things so he goes back to 2015. He can't go back to 2015, and as soon as he realizes this he can work on making 2018 much better than 2017.
Carol · June 8, 2017 at 4:52 pm
Every single player goes through bad patches but some of them can handle it and overcome but not everyone. Look Borg, why did he retired so young? maybe because he started to lose more and more matches and he was very disappointed because he couldn't keep his 'mojo'?. Each player mentally is different and also depending of his pride, no one likes to lose but some players even going through a bad times they want to keep fighting because they know they can come back , others are feeling worse and worse and they don't have the ability to understand why it's happening to them and they don't find the right way to leave the patch, maybe one day or never
GameSetAndMath · June 8, 2017 at 6:11 pm
Rumors are that Novak might take some time off from tennis to recapture his mojo.
Me thinks he will close the shop after USO and then come back next year.
Moxie · June 8, 2017 at 8:54 pm
If he doesn't take some time off, I think he's foolish. And I wonder if waiting until after the USO is too long, but who knows. If he has a poor Wimbledon, he should close up shop then.
Moxie · June 8, 2017 at 8:57 pm
Everyone keeps talking about how Novak lost his motivation after finally winning the French Open last year. I was wondering if losing early at the Olympics didn't also dent him more than a bit. Granted, it was a rough first round, but he's called the Olympic Gold a goal of his. Surely he left the court after losing to del Potro knowing that he may have missed his last best chance. I don't know if I'm making too much of that, but it's been a long time since the RG win to keep explaining lack of motivation on just that.
Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2017 at 9:06 pm
Moxie; yes that OLY loss by Djokovic 76 76 to Del Potro was devastating indeed. Remember Djokovic cried on the court after. He really gave it his all and played incredible tennis but he just could not get the job done. Could have been a devastating irreparable blow to his confidence to lose that. The Querrey lost at Wimbledon was the real shocker though. Because there are a lot of guys who have beaten and can beat Querrey and all those players got a huge confidence boost after seeing Querrey beat Djokovic. The Del Potro loss just added to Djokovic's frustration.
Moxie · June 8, 2017 at 9:27 pm
The Querrey loss was odd. And a shocker, indeed. But I was wondering if he'd have a sink after RG, and he did, in that match. He even had the chance to regroup after the overnight rain delay, and couldn't take advantage. OK, surprising, but understandable, too. Then he won the Roger's Cup. All good. Then he got dumped out of OG first round. I do remember how devastated he was, crying on court. The sense of a dream that he might not realize. Took some additional wind out of his sails. Perhaps an overlooked detail in terms of how it has gone so awry.
Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2017 at 9:54 pm
Djokovic played great tennis vs Delpo too but it was not enough. When you know you played your very best tennis that you are capable of and you still lose its devastating. Like the great boxer who lands his best punch … and it has no effect on the opponent … that can crush the fighters spirit and belief.