It may be too early to sound the alarm, but the signs are not good for the 24-time Grand Slam champion, with nine of his last 13 losses coming to players born in the 2000s. That means that he started to look a little vulnerable against younger players, which is also completely natural at his age.
However, if you look closely, you can see that Djokovic’s last two losses came from players with different playing styles. While Jannik Sinner literally knocked him off the court in the first two sets of the Australian Open, winning them 6-1 and 6-2 respectively, Nardi was much more patient in his approach. At Nardi, Djokovic faced a player who, like the Serbian himself, was ready to score points and not take too many risks.
In fact, the match between them on a slow pitch at Indian Wells looked like a typical match played on clay as both players took a cautious approach. Additionally, Nardi’s ability to play well across the board also surprised the Serbian. There was a common factor in Djokovic’s two defeats against two Italian opponents. Both Sinner and Nardi had 11 break points and managed to make very good use of the Serbian’s weak second serve. Djokovic won only 43% and 52% of his second serve points against Nardi and Sinner respectively. Future opponents of the Serb could take this into account and try to follow their example.
However, we should not draw hasty conclusions. It is worth remembering that Djokovic last won the Indian Wells tournament in 2016 and a defeat should not bother him too much.
The defeat at the Australian Open, his favorite tournament, was certainly much more unexpected and serious from his point of view. At this stage of his career, the Serbian should probably focus solely on winning Grand Slam titles and thus putting himself out of reach of everyone else. The Serbian’s improved serve has been one of the reasons for his career resurgence in recent years and so he should be worried about his second serve now. He should probably work more on this. However, it is difficult to find young players in world tennis currently other than Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, whose game has always given Djokovic problems. The Serbian will also continue to be one of the favorites at Wimbledon as few players are comfortable on grass. The Serbian will therefore be able to stay at the top for at least another year.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev/Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
