No Djoke for Novak

Former World No. 1 and 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic is looking for answers.

The struggles continue for the former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. A man who once embodied physical and mental fortitude is left searching for answers after his latest questionable performance in his second round defeat at the BNP Paribas Open at the hands of little known qualifier Taro Daniel. Djokovic continued to look un-Djokovic like as he sprayed 58 unforced errors and went away tamely in the third set against his much less experienced opponent. Novak played as if it was his 'first match on tour' as he quoted in the press conference following his defeat. He looked unsure of himself, was not sharp with his shot selections and faded away in the third set to someone he would have beaten routinely two or three years ago. Djokovic has been battling an elbow/arm injury for some time now, as he has had to change his service motion and was forced to miss the second half of 2017. Six weeks ago he had surgery to try and repair the damage, but the pain and discomfort are still lingering and hurting him while he is out on the court competing. He has been wearing a sleeve on his arm to protect and support the injury and has been forced to shorten and abbreviate his serve motion to avoid further pain and damage. His serve, while never his strongest shot, was a solid, reliable shot that has turned into him just getting the point started and not being able to do much damage. In addition to his physical ailments, Djokovic does not have the tiger within him that was so much a part of his dominant years from 2011-2016. His mental fortitude and belief in himself in the biggest moments against his main rivals was what saw him usurp both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in 2011 and begin his reign as World No. 1. Once he cleared that hurdle, Novak was the best player in the world for roughly five years. Now, his priorities in life have changed. He is a father and husband in addition to being a world-class tennis player. Before those responsibilities entered his life and he was able to dedicate and focus on his career 110%, we saw what Djokovic was capable of. Some believed it was the best level they had ever seen and was redefining the way the sport was played with incredible speed and defensive skills. Truth be told, Djokovic has not been himself since he captured his first and lone French Open title in 2016. This was a major goal of his throughout his career, and when he finally achieved it by beating Andy Murray in the final, it seemed as if he had an internal letdown. The last year and a half or so have been filled with missed time, injuries, poor performances (by his standards), an overall drop in level of play and what seems to be a lack of day in and day out commitment to the sport that has given him everything. While Novak has been searching for answers, Nadal and Federer have risen above him once again and become the two dominant players on tour that they were prior to Djokovic's ascension. While he is still only 30 years of age, a relatively middle age for professional men's players nowadays, it seems as though Djokovic poured everything he had into a five year stretch and is now on his last legs. The wear and tear of today's game combined with his brutally physical style of play may have taken too much of a toll on the Serbian for him to overcome at this stage of his career. A former 8-time Grand Slam champion who has been working with Novak since last year's French Open may be able to help him, but even his impact has yet to come to fruition. American Andre Agassi had similar struggles to Djokovic around the same stage of his career, and managed to come back and put together a very impressive post-30 patch of play. Agassi returned to No. 1 and captured another Grand Slam after going through a severe rough patch. It will be interesting to see if Djokovic can rededicate himself the way he needs to in order to regain his top level, or will the once ultra competitive Serb fade away without a fight? It is hard to believe that one of the greatest players ever will not be able to turn it around with seemingly enough years left to do so, but with new priorities and focuses in addition to tennis it may be too late to get back to the mountain top.