Novak Djokovic was left “empty” and started to lose his motivation after he “won” his battle against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slams.
That is the verdict of renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou as he feels Djokovic felt the “fight was finally over”.
After another record-breaking 2023 campaign that saw him win the Australian Open, French Open, US Open and ATP Finals, and finish the year as world No 1 for a record-extending eighth time, many predicted Djokovic would also dominate this year.
But his 2024 campaign got off to a stuttering start as he lost in the semi-final of the Australian Open and suffered a string of early exits from big tournaments.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner failed to win a title in the first five months of the year – only the second time in his career that has happened since he won his maiden trophy in 2006.
Novak Djokovic ‘becomes an animal’ when the chips are down, says former world No 1
Despite his struggles, Djokovic has maintained that his motivation to continue playing at the highest level remains intact.
However, Mouratoglou believes the fact that the Serbian saw off the challenge of his great rivals Federer and Nadal in terms of most Grand Slams won by a man, took some steam out of him.
Federer initially dominated the list for most majors won as he was the first man to 20 before Nadal and Djokovic joined him on that tally. Nadal moved to 22 when he won the Australian Open and French Open before Djokovic’s three majors in 2023 saw him jump to 24.
“I have a little theory about Novak Djokovic, at least about what happened in recent weeks,” Mouratoglou said.
“Already he is obviously an extraordinary player, the greatest of all time, he has broken all records and he has now been fighting for 15 years with a certain Federer and a certain Nadal to become the greatest of all time in terms of the number of Grand Slam titles.
“It turns out that Federer stopped his career, Rafa, recently, was really in discomfort, he has been injured for a while, everything suggested that he would never come back.
“And I think that suddenly he said to himself: ‘I won, I’m going to finish with the greatest number of titles’ and that affected him in terms of motivation, it’s at least the reading I have on what has happened in recent months.
“I had never seen him like that, he was empty, literally, he had no energy, no desire, and I really think that he had a lack of motivation linked to a completely new situation and a feeling that the fight was finally over.”
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