Novak Djokovic has faced plenty of criticism recently after he started to struggle on the tennis courts.
Djokovic is arguably the greatest tennis player of all time. No one has won more Grand Slam titles than the Serbian did, and no one has ever held the World No. 1 spot longer than he did. But at 37, he is not able to deliver the same type of consistency that he did over the last decade.
His coach, Andy Murray, experienced that during the last years of his career, and he even had to go through a challenging period when it seemed that every question that he was asked was when he would retire.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion might soon start facing similar questions, as almost all of his losses are being dissected these days. That also happened after he lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in Indian Wells.
The former WTA World No. 9, Coco Vandeweghe, spoke about Djokovic’s loss as an analyst on the Tennis Channel’s panel. The former American player discussed whether the Serbian legend got too comfortable with losing.
“We have to give Botic some credit, he showed up, he played big ball and you have to give the man credit where credit is due. But I do think is it this Novak getting too comfortable with ‘I’m okay with losing.’
While there might be some merit to what Vandeweghe suggested, Djokovic himself seemed very enraged and disappointed by the fact that he lost afterward.
But the former American player also suggested that the former ATP World No. 1 player might not only be more used to losses, but he might have also lost some of his mental strength, which he was known for.
“It’s a weird feeling as a player when you have a couple of losses like that where you see him in the press room, and he is a little bit too smiley, and you have to think, ‘Is he not as mentally tough as he once was?'”
Vandeweghe also showed that she didn’t want to criticize Djokovic harshly but only assess his performance. She called him the GOAT (greatest of all time) and reminded tennis fans that he can’t be counted out.
“You have just got to question that a little bit. I still think you can’t count out the GOAT in any tournament, in any situation, but I do question are we getting a little bit too comfortable with these guys beating you in these 1000 events.”
The 33-year-old player also knows what Djokovic’s main goals are this season. He aims to win Grand Slams, and how successful he is will be determined once the Grand Slam season is over.
“We know Novak is looking at Slams, and are we getting a little too comfortable, and maybe that will happen at Slams.”
