What now for Novak?

I’m a fan of Novak, so obviously I feel disappointed right now. Partly I’m disappointed at the result but I’m more disappointed by its implications.

Novak’s rise to the top was built on confidence and a cool head. It now appears he has lost both.
I believe the problems began to show in Rome. He was on the wrong end of a bad line call, lost his temper, lost some games and lost the match. We also saw the start of the racquet smashing which quickly became embarrassing.

Then came the RG final and he never looked like he believed he could beat Rafa. The double faults on crucial points, including match point, showed a player crumbling under pressure.

And again today, against his other main rival, I think we again saw a player who didn’t believe he could win. Or maybe just a player who was more concerned about not losing. Having looked at the match stats, they are surprisingly close but anyone who watched it knows that this was not a close match. Apart from a couple of games, this was on Roger’s racquet from start to finish. Roger was full of attacking intent but I’m struggling to describe Novak’s game. It was played in the style of man who was obliged to turn up and play but didn’t want to put himself out.

So where now for Novak? He desperately needs to get some confidence back but how does he get that confidence when he is losing to his main rivals in such a manner?

It also begets the question, is his level of the last 3 months a dip in form or a return to normal after a freakish 15 months or so?

A critical hard court season ahead I think!

What now for Novak?

Bath and a pizza.

After that... well age is on his side, I wouldn't write him off just yet!

He will regroup like all players with a champion mindset...

What now?

Probably some more Slams I'd imagine.

I think you've nailed the big question.

Personally, I feel the wheels have slowly but surely been coming off since last year's FO. That might sound strange considering he won three more slams after that, however, in terms of performance, I felt he never quite captured the level that he reached in the early part of the season.

That's not to write him off though. Going forward he is still the most likely player imo to win the majority of the big tourney's, but I don't think he will ever recapture the dominant form that he showed in early 2011.

I do however expect him to keep/retain his number one position and he will still be the favourite at the USO this year. His consistent level will never again be thearly 2011 level but it will be good enough to keep him as the overall best player in the world.



emancipator

bogbrush wrote:What now?

Probably some more Slams I'd imagine.

Definitely. Djok is too good and has 2 or 3 years left... He will definitely win another 3.

bogbrush wrote:What now?

Probably some more Slams I'd imagine.

I hope so. We know Fed and Rafa can lose form, take the hits but still come back strong so I guess we'll now find out what Novak's made of!

Woah there. I think you said it all towards the end of the article. Its probably just a levelling out - the man was virtually invincible for about a year. In any sport you'd expect that kind of run to end at some point. Still a top, top player with plenty more Grand Slams to be won I'm sure.

Just to clarify, I think part of what made him successful at W and Aus last year and this year respectively, was the momentum and confidence that he'd built up, and the feeling of invincibility.

This loss will dent that. It'll be interesting to see how well he bounces back. I do expect him to bounce back because he is a proven champion.

VTR wrote:Woah there. I think you said it all towards the end of the article. Its probably just a levelling out - the man was virtually invincible for about a year. In any sport you'd expect that kind of run to end at some point. Still a top, top player with plenty more Grand Slams to be won I'm sure.

True. My concern is that he spent years falling just short because he didn't really believe he could win. I'm hoping that, even if his form has returned to "normal" levels, his mindset isn't slipping back to the old way too.

It is crazy we have 3 players like Nadal, Djok and Fed in the game at one time... what kind of void are they gonna leave??

We are going to have to hope the Raonics and Tomics of the world step up!

Great volleys from Tsonga

Wrong thread sorry

HM Murdoch wrote:

VTR wrote:Woah there. I think you said it all towards the end of the article. Its probably just a levelling out - the man was virtually invincible for about a year. In any sport you'd expect that kind of run to end at some point. Still a top, top player with plenty more Grand Slams to be won I'm sure.

True. My concern is that he spent years falling just short because he didn't really believe he could win. I'm hoping that, even if his form has returned to "normal" levels, his mindset isn't slipping back to the old way too.

Maybe.

However the implications of a Federer win (if he completes) could be as big in terms of confidence and effect on Novaks competition.

Yeah but Federer is on the way out Bogbrush, let's be honest. He has another year left maybe... and that's if he wants to continue. I can see him retiring at US Open (or Wimb) 2013.

wrong thread...

I think Djokovic still looks mentally strong and should be able to bag at least a slam a year for the next few.

Well Murdoch my condolences on a tough loss for our guy. I think right now the top guys are so good and competive and Novak was bound to come down a bit off of 2011 form. He has been getting to the final stages pretty effortlessly but has stalled in the late round in the last two slams. Nothing really to lose much sleep over. He has a great forehand but it has let him down a bit with errors on really routine balls that he should put away. It has been more up down on that wing than he has been for many years. That is something he needs to figure out why he isn't quite as consistent off that wing as he has been in the last few years.

Six months ago, Djokovic won AO 2012 in a marathon. How short is the public memory? It is just a loss of a single match, even if it is the SF of W.

Djokovic is a resilient player. Obituaries are not the correct thing to do for a player like Djokovic.

SoCal/HM... it is a bit unfair to look at the career of Djokovic, so far, through the lens of a specific loss.

Federer should have been written off after W 2008, or Nadal after FO 2009, or Murray after AO 2010. But none of them were. Take heart.

Have a couple of cold ones, as SoCal would advise.

They are fantastic athletes.

We, as fans are blessed, to have such players adorn our screens and this forum.

Nice comments agree with those for certain laverfan. What is clear is that we are blessed with a few very special players at the top right now.

I think the best thing he can do is reflect. I mean he went from prince to the throne to the king and is slowly losing his crown.

It is a cycle. When Federer became king and was kicked off by Nadal and he came back and won 3 slams and regained the number 1 spot. When Nadal lost it and came back, he won 3 slams and regained the number 1 spot. Djokovic came along and did the same thing.

It has been a long 18 months for Djokovic and being the hunter again might just give him a platform to launch an assault on the slams again.

A critical hard court season ahead for Novak?

Well, obviously he'll want to get back to winning ways ASAP. But even if he doesn't win another trophy for the rest of the season (very unlikely by the way) it doesn't change the certainty that he's going to be at the top and competing for slams and the number 1 position for many years to come.

It's funny the short-termism that exists in tennis. Everyone's always looking for the end of an era or the beginning of a new one. The fact is its pretty much the same 4 guys at the business end of slams most of the time, and the same guys who win them. On Sunday we'll have either a new winner or someone winning a slam for the first time in a long time, but it won't change that much really.

Novak is there for the long run. He's a brilliant player with very few holes in his game. He lost a match, it's disappointing for him but he'll be back. He's too good not to be.

The loss itself doesn't worry me unduly. It's not as if it was to a no-hoper!

It's more the manner of the loss. Novak's game and confidence has looked pretty good this tournament but in his first match against a main rival, he suddenly looked empty and lacking belief.

It was similar at RG. His form wasn't great but he managed to play the big points well. Against Nadal though, he played the big points very nervously.

This is on top of a clay season where he seemed very tightly wound and not really enjoying himself.

I guess I'm just starting to worry that the recent performances are symptoms of a greater malaise rather than just simply being a case of "sometimes you lose in sport"!

My only worry for Novak is the hunger factor. The hunger and desire for more success everyone has in different degrees and we see that in how people take defeat as well. Novak and Rafa seem to take defeat in a similar manner here at Wimbledon by shrugging their shoulders and as good as saying it is only a tennis match/nobody has died. In previous times when Federer and Murray lose big matches we have actually seen tears - defeats really hurt. Perhaps I am reading too much into this. Thoughts?

Perhaps, CC.

This is one area that Federer & Nadal are supreme in. 27 Slams and still they burn ferociously, and in Federers case he's got virtually all the records and still wants more, enough to put everything at risk against younger foes to seemed to have his number in order to acquire more. In a weird way the closest comparison to Federer today is Alex Ferguson! Insatiable.

Andy obviously should be hungry as he's not been fed, so his desire has not been tested.

Novaks is now being tested and the results aren't in. I think he will pass and will win plenty more, but I doubt he's going to display the same extreme naked greed of Federer or Nadal, and I don't expect him to be pushing at full speed when married with kids.

Well hunger and desire for more is a trait of many great multiple champions such as:-

Roger Federer
Michael Schumacher
Lester Piggott
Tony McCoy
Tiger Woods
Muhammad Ali

I could go on and on with the list. Perhaps Novak is simply burnt out after a hectic schedule over the last year and a half but he never looked tuned in yesterday.

CC, BB, my take is that in 2011, Novak surged to the slams on a tidal wave of confidence and red hot form. It's almost as if the slams were the by-product of this form. He operated largely on instinct.

This year though, it is more deliberate. He said at the start of the year which events he was focusing on and there seems to have been a tacit acknowledgement that some events weren't as important. The intended peaks in his forms have been planned.

This is the right approach to take - Federer and Nadal have done it for years. But I think Novak is struggling with this approach and the pressure it begins. Almost as if the act of having a plan now means it is possible to fail.

Novak is in quite a unique position. He has been there and done it all. Well almost all. But now he is in the position were he has to show if he can do it again. Doing it all the fist time is tricky but not nearly as tricky as doing it all again. That is after all what really sets Federer and Nadal apart.

I think Novak can do it. ie win slams and regain number 1 (I know technically he hasn't lost it yet...) but I expect a dip first. Anyway we shall see how he responds. He has not been tested in this way. My worry for him is how he will respond to the media attention flicking in it's fickle way onto someone else when he had only begun to win it over. Novak does so need to be loved...

HM Murdoch wrote:It's more the manner of the loss. Novak's game and confidence has looked pretty good this tournament but in his first match against a main rival, he suddenly looked empty and lacking belief.

Should the Federer 1,3,0 loss to Nadal @FO 2008 be considered a worse loss than this one?

It is just a bad day at the office.

Djokovic could take inspiration from Federer and this specific loss and learn how to move on from this juncture. If Djokovic wants greatness, can he envision himself @30+ being as hungry as Federer is now?