Djokovic has lost his edge, says former mentor Pilic

[Brauvenklatsch]

Sat Mar 4, 2017 1:24pm EST

By Zoran Milosavljevic

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic has lost the tenacity which enabled him to rule men's tennis for a number of years, former mentor Niki Pilic said on Saturday.

"Djokovic reached the Mount Everest of tennis last year after winning the French Open," Pilic, who guided the Serb as a junior at his Munich academy, told Bosnian daily Nezavisne.

"He had 16,950 points and that's a tally which will never be repeated again, but loss of form and missing tournaments made his advantage melt away."

Djokovic looked untouchable after capturing his 12th grand slam title at Roland Garros last June, but was dethroned from the top of the world rankings last November by Andy Murray, who beat him in the final of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.

The 29-year-old Serb appeared to have rediscovered some of his form when he gained revenge over the Briton in January's Qatar Open final but he then suffered a shock second-round Australian Open exit at the hands of Uzbek Denis Istomin.

This week he was beaten by Australian Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-finals of an ATP event in Acapulco, prompting Pilic to cast doubts whether Djokovic can reclaim the top spot.

"Novak had a physical and mental edge second to none, he was in sixth gear," said the 77-year-old Croatian who helped a Djokovic-led Serbia to their 2010 Davis Cup title in an advisory role.

"That tenacity is no longer the same. It remains to be seen whether he can rediscover it and get back to the top level.

"The hard work of the last five or six years has taken its toll. Tennis was the priority every morning and afternoon and evening and all I can tell him is to be the person he was."

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

source

 

[smoledman]

Even Nole can't be a tennis monster for more than 5 years. He fulfilled his potential. To ask him to go back to being like 2011 or 2015 at this point is sheer lunacy and delusion.

 

[Fedinkum]

Marriage and baby took its toll.

 

[Luckydog]

Don't be too greedy,Nole fans.
His decline is natural and inevitable,accept it and keep your mood peaceful.
That's the course of life.Nobody can escape the rule of natural law.

 

[TripleATeam]

Sat Mar 4, 2017 1:24pm EST
"The hard work of the last five or six years has taken its toll. Tennis was the priority every morning and afternoon and evening and all I can tell him is to be the person he was."

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

source

That's unrealistic. He's not the same person he once was.

 

[TripleATeam]

Don't be too greedy,Nole fans.
His decline is natural and inevitable,accept it and keep your mood peacefully.
That's the course of life.Nobody can escape the rule of natural law.

Idk, Fed seems to be going strong at 35. At 34 he was contesting finals. We'll see.

 

[Luckydog]

Idk, Fed seems to be going strong at 35. At 34 he was contesting finals. We'll see.

You have to admit that Fed and Djo are two totally different players. Fed was contesting at the age of 34,yes,but that does not mean Djo can do it again.In the following two years, Djo still has a shot to claim more,but I don't think he can contest when as old as 34.

 

[Meles]

Sat Mar 4, 2017 1:24pm EST

By Zoran Milosavljevic

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic has lost the tenacity which enabled him to rule men's tennis for a number of years, former mentor Niki Pilic said on Saturday.

"Djokovic reached the Mount Everest of tennis last year after winning the French Open," Pilic, who guided the Serb as a junior at his Munich academy, told Bosnian daily Nezavisne.

"He had 16,950 points and that's a tally which will never be repeated again, but loss of form and missing tournaments made his advantage melt away."

Djokovic looked untouchable after capturing his 12th grand slam title at Roland Garros last June, but was dethroned from the top of the world rankings last November by Andy Murray, who beat him in the final of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.

The 29-year-old Serb appeared to have rediscovered some of his form when he gained revenge over the Briton in January's Qatar Open final but he then suffered a shock second-round Australian Open exit at the hands of Uzbek Denis Istomin.

This week he was beaten by Australian Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-finals of an ATP event in Acapulco, prompting Pilic to cast doubts whether Djokovic can reclaim the top spot.

"Novak had a physical and mental edge second to none, he was in sixth gear," said the 77-year-old Croatian who helped a Djokovic-led Serbia to their 2010 Davis Cup title in an advisory role.

"That tenacity is no longer the same. It remains to be seen whether he can rediscover it and get back to the top level.

"The hard work of the last five or six years has taken its toll. Tennis was the priority every morning and afternoon and evening and all I can tell him is to be the person he was."

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

source

Ouch.

 

[Sentinel]

Maybe he just needs a few months off tennis like Roger.

 

[tennisaddict]

Maybe he just needs a few months off tennis like Roger.

Do you reckon the months of June-Sept would be a good slot ?

 

[BeatlesFan]

Idk, Fed seems to be going strong at 35. At 34 he was contesting finals. We'll see.

Djoker is not Fed, who is in a completely different realm in playing style, love of the game and lack of mental fatigue.

 

[Sentinel]

Do you reckon the months of June-Sept would be a good slot ?

June 2017 - Sept 2020 ?

 

[Noelan]

Don't be too greedy,Nole fans.
His decline is natural and inevitable,accept it and keep your mood peaceful.
That's the course of life.Nobody can escape the rule of natural law.

Sounds reasonable when fedfanboy talks about greed

 

[FudgeControl]

You have to admit that Fed and Djo are two totally different players. Fed was contesting at the age of 34,yes,but that does not mean Djo can do it again.In the following two years, Djo still has a shot to claim more,but I don't think he can contest when as old as 34.

Haters gonna hate

 

[FudgeControl]

Sat Mar 4, 2017 1:24pm EST

By Zoran Milosavljevic

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic has lost the tenacity which enabled him to rule men's tennis for a number of years, former mentor Niki Pilic said on Saturday.

"Djokovic reached the Mount Everest of tennis last year after winning the French Open," Pilic, who guided the Serb as a junior at his Munich academy, told Bosnian daily Nezavisne.

"He had 16,950 points and that's a tally which will never be repeated again, but loss of form and missing tournaments made his advantage melt away."

Djokovic looked untouchable after capturing his 12th grand slam title at Roland Garros last June, but was dethroned from the top of the world rankings last November by Andy Murray, who beat him in the final of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.

The 29-year-old Serb appeared to have rediscovered some of his form when he gained revenge over the Briton in January's Qatar Open final but he then suffered a shock second-round Australian Open exit at the hands of Uzbek Denis Istomin.

This week he was beaten by Australian Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-finals of an ATP event in Acapulco, prompting Pilic to cast doubts whether Djokovic can reclaim the top spot.

"Novak had a physical and mental edge second to none, he was in sixth gear," said the 77-year-old Croatian who helped a Djokovic-led Serbia to their 2010 Davis Cup title in an advisory role.

"That tenacity is no longer the same. It remains to be seen whether he can rediscover it and get back to the top level.

"The hard work of the last five or six years has taken its toll. Tennis was the priority every morning and afternoon and evening and all I can tell him is to be the person he was."

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

source

I'll say this once more: Djokovic should never be ruled out of the race for #1. It may be a natural result of all his dominance in the game, but a dip in form does not always equate to permanent misfortune. Keep the faith, Nole fans.

 

[ghostofMecir]

Sounds reasonable when fedfanboy talks about greed

This poster has been bitter as hell the last 6 months. Lol!

 

[Luckydog]

Haters gonna hate

Hater?
I don't hate Djokovic,even if he beat Fed in recent GS finals.I just talk about something common for tennis players.To some extend,Fed is an exception.
TBH,how many players do you think can repeat Fed's dance at the age of 35 ? Djokovic ?Maybe.Who knows?But low probability for sure.
It has nothing to do with hate,but the fact.

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

Idk, Fed seems to be going strong at 35. At 34 he was contesting finals. We'll see.

Novak and Federer are very different in so many ways.
Novak head is filled with a lot of non tennis stuff and has a cult leader on his team. Its too much non sense that steals energy from Novak. Federer is an incarnation of tennis that doesn't have interests besides tennis. Novaks playing style needs a very good physique that is impossible to keep up with for Novak, maybe even more demanding than Rafas. Novak had a good run, he is an ATG. But my guess, - he will never be the same again.

 

[guanzishou]

Nole must urgently regain his edge and seek help from the Double-Edged Guru Sureshs who has acquired two Edges and one V20.

 

[tennis_pro]

Tell us something we dont know.

 

[junior74]

Hater?
I don't hate Djokovic,even if he beated Fed in recent GS finals.I just talk about something common for tennis players.To some extend,Fed is an exception.
TBH,how many players do you think can repeat Fed's dance at the age of 35 ? Djokovic ?Maybe.Who knows?But low probability for sure.
It has nothing to do with hate,but the fact.

Nah, it's hate

 

[Shaolin]

Marriage and baby took its toll.

Amor & Paz took its toll.

 

[TheMusicLover]

Marriage and baby took its toll.

It hasn't appeared to bother Fed and Murray for even a tiny bit.

 

[vladisimo]

It hasn't appeared to bother Fed and Murray for even a tiny bit.

not everybody is the same.

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

It hasn't appeared to bother Fed and Murray for even a tiny bit.

Not to mention Djokovic was already married and a father when he was dominating. Father time took its toll more than anything, as always.

 

[Gazelle]

It hasn't appeared to bother Fed and Murray for even a tiny bit.

Murray because he has plenty of reasons to remain motivated (especially now) and Fed, well, because he's Fed.

 

[cc0509]

Idk, Fed seems to be going strong at 35. At 34 he was contesting finals. We'll see.

How many slams has Federer won past age 29? After 2010 Federer stopped winning slams at his former pace. The same happened to Nadal after 2013. Players slow down and can no longer generate the frantic pace they did in their primes. Nobody should think Djokovic can't win more slams because that would be silly but can he win 7 more slams to surpass Federer's slam count when he is approaching age 30? That sounds very far-fetched to me for ANY ATG player even though fitness, diet and technology have advanced allowing players to last longer.

 

[acintya]

what if he Has really some bad personal problems? dont forget: where there is a lot of money,there are also evil people.
just sayin. serbia aint switzerland

 

[moonballs]

How many slams has Federer won past age 29? After 2010 Federer stopped winning slams at his former pace. The same happened to Nadal after 2013. Players slow down and can no longer generate the frantic pace they did in their primes. Nobody should think Djokovic can't win more slams because that would be silly but can he win 7 more slams to surpass Federer's slam count when he is approaching age 30? That sounds very far-fetched to me for ANY ATG player even though fitness, diet and technology have advanced allowing players to last longer.

Not 7 slams. But. Hope at least 2 or better 3 so that he ends up having same or more than Nadal.

 

[Xavier G]

Novak has been at the top of the game for the past 5/6 years as a target to be aimed for and he's a father with a family now. I thought when he won the French Open last year, "how long can he keep hungry and motivated?". He held all 4 GS titles then, he's basically won everything and has enough money for several lifetimes.

Look at this way. Djokovic is almost 30.
Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe were essentially finished at 25...

Novak might still win another GS or two. I wouldn't write him off yet. It's all up to him.

 

[bjsnider]

Why have some of the high-skill youngsters (eg. Kyrgios, Dimitrov) not assumed the mantle of world number one?

"a physical and mental edge second to none, he was in sixth gear" ... "tenacity" ... "Tennis was the priority every morning and afternoon and evening"

It's a lack of the conscientiousness necessary to dominate the world in a given field. Ability is not enough. It takes skill, combined with meticulous attention to detail, preparation, high intelligence, diligence, and sacrifice. At their peak, these high achievers have won their matches before they're played. Perhaps Dimitrov has gotten there, it remains to be seen. The others haven't.

 

[hoodjem]

Marriage and baby took its toll.

He has a wife and a life now.

No going back.

 

[rockbox]

Novak is not Federer. Novak never loved tennis like Federer does. Actually, there are very few people ever that like tennis and the pro circuit the way Fed does. Novak just isn't wired that way. Novak has accomplished everything there is to accomplish. I think he finally wants a life and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[FudgeControl]

Hater?
I don't hate Djokovic,even if he beated Fed in recent GS finals.I just talk about something common for tennis players.To some extend,Fed is an exception.
TBH,how many players do you think can repeat Fed's dance at the age of 35 ? Djokovic ?Maybe.Who knows?But low probability for sure.
It has nothing to do with hate,but the fact.

Apologies for the misunderstanding. Didn't mean to wrongly call you a hater.

Federer is human, just like the rest of us; there are people who are late bloomers, or get better over time (just like wine). Djokovic is not even in his mid 30s, and he has plenty of time to pull off an amazing comeback. It's really only a matter of time, my friend.

In tennis nowadays, anything is possible. You never know what can happen. As you may have noticed, we are getting a lot of upsets and unexpected results. I would give Novak a 70% chance of returning to full power by the time Wimbledon begins.

 

[FudgeControl]

Novak is not Federer. Novak never loved tennis like Federer does. Actually, there are very few people ever that like tennis and the pro circuit the way Fed does. Novak just isn't wired that way. Novak has accomplished everything there is to accomplish. I think he finally wants a life and there is nothing wrong with that.

Everything in between the first and 2nd to last sentence is literal garbage.

 

[1477aces]

It hasn't appeared to bother Fed and Murray for even a tiny bit.

Idk I think it did bother Federer. Became a father right around USO 2009. After AO 10, his game kind of fell of a cliff. That was the end of his prime, and he was just 28.5.

 

[Zara]

This thread slowly but surely turning to a yet another Federer thread - even when it belongs to Djokovic.

And it's not Djokovic who's greedy. If he's giving up, let's say, then clearly he feels content at this point of his career.

And what makes you think Federer loves the game more than the status? I mean there are two active players right now on tour who can still match Federer's record. That possibility is still there. So how can you say with such conviction that he's still playing because he loves the game while it could very well be because he's trying to save his legacy and making sure no one breaks his record - at least not any time soon?

 

[tennisaddict]

This thread slowly but surely turning to a yet another Federer thread - even when it belongs to Djokovic.

And it's not Djokovic who's greedy. If he's giving up, let's say, then clearly he feels content at this point of his career.

And what makes you think Federer loves the game more than the status? I mean there are two active players right now on tour who can still match Federer's record. That possibility is still there. So how can you say with such conviction that he's still playing because he loves the game while it could very well be because he's trying to save his legacy and making sure no one breaks his record - at least not any time soon?

LMAO. The delusion of getting 19 slams never stops !!

 

[Deleted member 307496]

This thread slowly but surely turning to a yet another Federer thread - even when it belongs to Djokovic.

And it's not Djokovic who's greedy. If he's giving up, let's say, then clearly he feels content at this point of his career.

And what makes you think Federer loves the game more than the status? I mean there are two active players right now on tour who can still match Federer's record. That possibility is still there. So how can you say with such conviction that he's still playing because he loves the game while it could very well be because he's trying to save his legacy and making sure no one breaks his record - at least not any time soon?

You do realize Weakeraovic would need to win Wilander's career worth of slams to overtake Roger, right?

And Weakeraovic isn't taking advantage of this even weaker time period. He isn't winning slams consistently anymore.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Everything in between the first and 2nd to last sentence is literal garbage.

Every post you make is literal garbage.

 

[every7]

Amor & Paz took its toll.

Agree. It has ended up being an unsuccessful appointment. The optics were risky to start with from Imaz's perspective and it was always going to be high pressure for him. Anything other than superlative results was always going to look bad for Imaz, given how well Djokovic was going when he entered the entourage. Gone is Djokovic's aura, and I suspect there has been significant collateral damage to Imaz's brand, such as it was before the appointment.

 

[big ted]

i blame it on winning the FO last year.. if he lost that i think he'd have more drive & still be #1 now possibly..

 

[Zara]

LMAO. The delusion of getting 19 slams never stops !!

Not win 19 slams but match it (read it). It's not too far fetched. Remember that it's a possiblity that still exists within the same realm. These are active players after all and I wouldn't read too much into what Djokovic says right now. He's probably going through a phase but things change in tennis quite fast. Maybe some of your arrogance will finally rub things off in the way you'd hate to see. Don't count all your chickens yet.

 

[Zara]

You do realize Weakeraovic would need to win Wilander's career worth of slams to overtake Roger, right?

And Weakeraovic isn't taking advantage of this even weaker time period. He isn't winning slams consistently anymore.

Yes of course the supposed Weakeraovic didn't have the luxury to accumulate 14 slams from 2011 to 2016 as he had Nadal, Murray, Federer and Wawrinka to deal with, but still if he continues to play until his mid-30s and only goes for slams then anything is possible. I do think that's how he'd like to play from now on. Not win everything in sight but just peak for the Majors and keep things otherwise moderately consistent, so that his ranking doesn't drop out of top ten, or possibly keep it within top 5. It will come down to strategy depending on what he has on his mind.

It's a shame though how some of you have such little respect for players who have done so much for themselves. And get all worked up at the mere mention of anyone reaching Federer's record. Of course it's never about the game itself, is it.

 

[Charlemagne]

A totally normal and natural decline. Anyone with a set of eyes could've seen it coming.

 

[tennisaddict]

Not win 19 slams but match it (read it). It's not too far fetched. Remember that it's a possiblity that still exists within the same realm. These are active players after all and I wouldn't read too much into what Djokovic says right now. He's probably going through a phase but things change in tennis quite fast. Maybe some of your arrogance will finally rub things off in the way you'd hate to see. Don't count all your chickens yet.

Well, if Djokovic can win 6 slams after 30, Fed can win 2 more slams beyond 35. So that makes the target for Novak as 20. Good luck reaching that.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Yes of course the supposed Weakeraovic didn't have the luxury to accumulate 14 slams from 2011 to 2016 as he had Nadal, Murray, Federer and Wawrinka to deal with, but still if he continues to play until his mid-30s and only goes for slams then anything is possible. I do think that's how he'd like to play from now on. Not win everything in sight but just peak for the Majors and keep things otherwise moderately consistent, so that his ranking doesn't drop out of top ten, or possibly keep it within top 5. It will come down to strategy depending on what he has on his mind.

Djokovic only had to contend with broken back Murray and old Federer for all his slams from 2014-present. You denying he had a weaker period is actually hilarious, but it shouldn't surprise me given you think Pete isn't given enough respect for beating nobodies from 1996-early 1999.

It's a shame though how some of you have such little respect for players who have done so much for themselves. And get all worked up at the mere mention of anyone reaching Federer's record. Of course it's never about the game itself, is it.

Little respect? Guy has earned all of his titles but half of them came in a weak era.

 

[Carsomyr]

Djoko to win 47 slems BOOK IT

 

[FudgeControl]

Every post you make is literal garbage.

You contradict yourself by posting garbage down below. So Wilander is GOAT?

You do realize Weakeraovic would need to win Wilander's career worth of slams to overtake Roger, right?

And Weakeraovic isn't taking advantage of this even weaker time period. He isn't winning slams consistently anymore.

You sound very smart.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

You contradict yourself by posting garbage down below. So Wilander is GOAT?

Can you read?

You sound very smart.

Gee, thanks. Can't say the same for you though.