Novak Djokovic‘s struggles can’t be ignored anymore, at least according to Serena Williams’ former coach, Rennae Stubbs.
Djokovic managed to win only one title since his win at the 2023 ATP Finals. It was the tournament he wanted to win the most – the Olympic Games. Although the Serbian player was certainly happy to win the gold medal, it was his only tournament win in the past 15 months.
That’s something the 24-time Grand Slam champion is not used to. With every loss he records, his struggles come more under the microscope, and that’s the case also after his opening-round loss to Matteo Berrettini at the 2025 Qatar Open in Doha.
Berrettini played a sensational match to beat Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-2, but such losses are uncharacteristic for the 37-year-old. Or at least, they used to be.
In recent times, the Serbian player loses much more often than he used to, and his struggles are starting to get attention. On top of that, he was seen limping to the airport in Doha, further worrying the tennis fans.
Former WTA player Rennae Stubbs talked about Djokovic during the recent episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. She recognized that Berrettini played a great match to beat the Serbian legend.
“Novak Djokovic did lose to Berrettini. Berrettini did play the match of his life. He was hitting forehands all over the place for winners. I know he’s had his issues at the start of this year with in Australia with the leg.”
At the same time, Stubbs can’t help but notice Djokovic’s struggles in recent times. The Serbian player has suffered from plenty of injuries recently, which seemingly prevent him from playing as much as he would like to.
Because of that, he then enters a cycle when he doesn’t have enough matches played to win. A first-round loss wasn’t ideal for the former ATP World No. 1 player, as it didn’t give him almost any playing time.
“He’s struggling with injuries over the last couple of years now with the knee, with the leg. Novak has bounced back better than most, better than probably anyone. But this is starting to be a little bit of an issue now, not winning matches.”
Stubbs thinks that all of Djokovic’s problems are starting to pile up, which then results in him struggling even more.
“And then when you haven’t played for a while, then you come back and you’re older… When you go and play a match, you’re pushing yourself more, you’re doing a little more, you’re more nervous, your body’s more uptight. And he’s struggling more and more and more.”
The 99-time ATP titlist will have a chance to prove Stubbs wrong during the upcoming Indian Wells Open. Despite his ongoing struggles, Djokovic will be one of the favorites to win at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
