Novak

In June 2016 Novak Djokovic was on top of the tennis world after completing a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros. He was so dominant it looked like he would have a serious shot at Federer's majors record.
How things have changed in just over a year. His loss to Querrey was the start of a series of disappointments. The obvious explanation was: lack of motivation after finally winning RG. According to Becker he wasn't putting in enough training hours any longer. Then there were the rumours of extramarital activities. Earlier this year he got rid of his entire coaching/training staff, stating he needed a "fresh" look at things, and yesterday after his retirement against Berdych he revealed he's been having elbow problems for a long time. Apparently what is needed is rest. So why did he choose to play Eastborn the week before Wimbledon? Does he really think through his decisions, or does he prefer to shoot from the hip nowadays?

Let's hope for Novak that simply getting his elbow back in shape will allow him to climb his way back to the top, but it could be things a more complicated than that!

prostaff85 wrote:... Does he really think through his decisions, or does he prefer to shoot from the hip nowadays? ...

I wish Murray was able to shoot from the hip. Maybe both Murray and Novak could ask Nadal for some advice - he seems to have had significant injuries and come back from it. Maybe some sort of key hole surgery and / or platelet rich plasma technology is required for both. Are there are sport scientists or medics on the forum?

So is the elbow the long sought after explanation for the whole last 12 months? He's been keeping it fairly low key and decided to reveal now.

I think the elbow issue first came to light a few weeks after the Australian Open.

It's a long time at the top. For my money he was the best player in the world for pretty much 5 years from 2011 to 2016. And for much of that time there was clear distance between him and the rest. Then he goes and achieves more than most could ever dream of. It's not hard to see why you have a loss of motivation.

OK, cc but is he now saying it's a bigger thing, before we thought it was something minor. I mean since the Australian open we were discussing Djokovic's slump and it wasn't clear what the reason was.

It's easy to say he was the best player in the world for 5 years because there was no doubt of it at the beginning or the end of the period, therefore it's easy to just lump in 2012-2014, the years when he wasn't really dominant with the others. But it's probably truer to say he was the best in 2011, 2015 and the first half of 2016 and on average the best over that particular cherry picked 5 year period, but no more than that. Because Federer was the best player at the end of 2011 and for the first half of 2012, while Rafa was the best player for 2013, and Murray was the best player for the second half of 2016.

He did get year end no 1 in 2012 and 2014, but only by a small amount, not because he was the more dominant player.

I am kind of wondering if all of the big 4 will end up retiring at a similar point. As the first of them call it a day, will the others by motivated to try and play on against a weakened field? Maybe. But I could see them all going out within a year or two.

What has happened to Tsonga, Ferrer, Nishikori - wear and tear? This discussion could be widened to assess how well Murray and Novak are doing compared to their peers - and in general they have more mileage on the clock - always getting to the latter stages of big tournaments.

Henman Bill I'd say it was an issue but nothing he thought he couldn't play through but without rest these injuries won't heal and will only get worse. I would say that is what happened here.

Can't underestimate how likely off court matters have messed with his head.

McEnroe compared Djokovic to Tiger Woods, now I don't know the details about what Djokovic has been up to in his spare time but surely there has to be something going on?

A break is important - firstly to get some much needed rest but also to try and get himself sorted out mentally - just step out of the public domain for a little while.

Another thing I'd suggest is getting advice from Federer.

Does seem odd that he won Eastbourne without dropping a set, won his first four matches at Wimbledon without dropping a set and then an injury he has had for over a year stopped him in his tracks. Must be something that flares up from time to time.

Born Slippy wrote:Does seem odd that he won Eastbourne without dropping a set, won his first four matches at Wimbledon without dropping a set and then an injury he has had for over a year stopped him in his tracks. Must be something that flares up from time to time.

Good point.  In that case he should have skipped Eastbourne.

Checking out tennis elbow (below) - it seems it is soreness / irritation of the tendons.  Seems to be perhaps analogous to Nadal's knee issues.  Hence key hole - platelet rich plasma treatment seems to be what is needed - although I think this is not a guarantee of rapid improvement.  Without rest can lead to damage requiring surgery.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_elbow

Checking out hip injuries - which was also the reason for Kyrgios withdrawal from Wimbledon - it is a cartilage issue - either a tear or some form of arthritis caused by wearing the cartilage out.
http://www.physioworks.com.au/injuries-conditions-1/hip-labral-tear
http://www.physioworks.com.au/injuries-conditions-1/hip-arthritis-osteoarthritis

Wow - a fair few assumptions there No name Bertie, with all the flavour of an armchair diagnosis based (presumably ....unless you've actually had the chance to examine Novak ....? ) on TV pictures and a bit of googling.

With zero qualifications of my own, I won't get into the medical stuff ; but I do think it might be unfair to conclude that Novak was wrong to play Eastbourne. Hindsight is a wonderful thing ! None of the top guys like to miss Slams, and a very likely scenario is that he used Eastbourne not simply as practise & preparation for Wimbledon, but more as a test to see how where he was physically in competitive play. When things went about as well as they could (coming through unscathed as the title winner, and with no outward sign of injury / impairment), he then felt fully motivated & match-fit for Wimbledon.

As BS points out above, he was looking very, very good on grass, very enthused and seemingly trouble-free - right up to the point where he ran into trouble during the QF v Berdych.

Adding to what Lags 72 said, Djoko was very happy during and after Eastbourne and I actually picked him to win Wimbledon once Rafa was ousted. He seems very up and down at the moment. One of the Big Four is still winning all the big prizes but the days of all four playing well/being available at the same time may have gone.

lags72 wrote:Wow - a fair few assumptions there No name Bertie, with all the flavour of an armchair diagnosis based (presumably ....unless you've actually had the chance to examine Novak ....? ) on TV pictures and a bit of googling. ...

Not wanting to ignore your valuable contributions to this forum too - I would like to induct you into the Hall of Fame for Armchair Diagnosticators along with the rest of us.