Ever since the Semi Final of the French Open, Djokovic has not mentally been the same

[JRAJ1988]

After that absolutely crushing defeat to Nadal, Novak has not been the same since...The Wimbledon Final - Yes he did play a grueling match against Del Potro but mentally vs Murray who didn't have to play well he won in straights but he also did the same vs Wawrinka at this years Australian Open then beat Murray and this past US Open....he is one of the fittest guys on tour.

In 2011 and the 2012 Australian Open final Nadal was crushed yet he took the reasons why he was getting beat 7 times in a row to Novak then worked around it to beat him at Monte Carlo 2012 though Djokovic suffered a family bereavement and that is one of the hardest things to deal with then Nadal started to beat Djokovic taking that win and repeating the same tactic.

Djokovic beat Nadal at this years Monte Carlo Masters and in my opinion I thought he was going to win the French Open....ever noticed the odd net chord or missed shot can alter everything in tennis and afterwards.

Djokovic needs to work out a way and (I believe he will), to rejuvenate himself emotionally..to play at the biggest stage and remember 2011 when he dominated the game. Barring Roger Federer's genious and one of his best matches on Clay at the 2011 French Open semi, Djokovic would have won all 4 slams in one year in my opinion and that ain't a negative to Nadal.

 

[Tenez101]

Nadal mentally crushed Djokovic in that match. I thought it would be Rafa's Wimbledon '08, but it ended up being Nole's.

 

[Crose]

Nadal was the same in 2011, crushed by Djokovic. It took him until the next year's AO to finally get his mojo back (even though he lost, the match gave him confidence). Djokovic just needs one match. One tremendous match for him to regain his confidence.

The setting is PERFECT for Djokovic to get back to dominance. He'll most likely lose #1 so the pressure is off and he's historically been better when he's hunting rather than being hunted. He'll have the offseason to tweak his game, maybe beef up his forehand and work on his net game. And when he comes back next season, it'll be with his favorite slam, the one he's owned.

 

[reaper]

Djokovic seems to replay the previous point in big moments now. When Nadal plays a brilliant winning point, in the following points Djokovic seemed to think every shot he hit had to be right on the line. The result was a ridiculous number of unforced errors through over playing in big moments. He needs to get back to playing percentages more and and stop thinking he's got to do the impossible to win

 

[Solo]

I made a similar thread about this too. I hope he does pounce back of course but these regular losses are hard to take in, and we are just fans. Djokovic himself must be feeling really gutted. Getting so close in these finals and dropping his level at crucial moments etc