Novak Djokovic felt under pressure at the 2024 Australian Open, says Patrick Mouratoglou in the latest episode of Eye of the Coach.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion hinted at it himself after he beat Adrian Mannarino – saying that he felt an expectation on his shoulders when he was up 6-0, 6-0, 1-0, and conceded a game to allow his French opponent on the board.
“He didn’t do it on purpose, but he felt the pressure was too big,” says the coach.
And after an unbeaten run in Melbourne stretching back over 2,000 days, Djokovic turned in a poor display by his exacting standards in the semi-final against Jannik Sinner.
“He never lost a semi-final at the Australian Open. He won 10 titles here. And in a way, it brought so much pressure,” adds Mouratoglou.
“Imagine he would win again. That would be crazy!”
Mouratoglou points out the issues with Djokovic’s display against Sinner – including his attitude – which culminated in what he describes as a “shock” of a performance.
“Even his attitude that is always so angry, even when he is winning, when there are pressure moments, he gets angry, he shouts at his box. He was flat – completely flat – against Sinner.”
KEY MOMENTS
0.13 – When Djokovic played Mannarino, he said afterwards that being up 6-0, 6-0, 1-0 was a pressure of its own.
0.30 – Djokovic’s impressive record at the Australian Open created a pressure of its own.
0.46 – Djokovic didn’t concede games on purpose, but he may have done it sub-consciously. “The fact that he said that against Mannarino makes me think there is something there,” suggests Mouratoglou.
1.09 – Djokovic’s semi-final against Sinner was one of his worst matches ever.
1.17 – He was slow, with no energy or enthusiasm.
1.29 – Even his attitude was flat against Sinner. The fact that Sinner did not have to defend a single break point says it all.
1.37 – It was shocking to see Djokovic unable to play to his standards, in what has become his home Slam.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion hinted at it himself after he beat Adrian Mannarino – saying that he felt an expectation on his shoulders when he was up 6-0, 6-0, 1-0, and conceded a game to allow his French opponent on the board.
“He didn’t do it on purpose, but he felt the pressure was too big,” says the coach.
And after an unbeaten run in Melbourne stretching back over 2,000 days, Djokovic turned in a poor display by his exacting standards in the semi-final against Jannik Sinner.
“He never lost a semi-final at the Australian Open. He won 10 titles here. And in a way, it brought so much pressure,” adds Mouratoglou.
“Imagine he would win again. That would be crazy!”
Mouratoglou points out the issues with Djokovic’s display against Sinner – including his attitude – which culminated in what he describes as a “shock” of a performance.
“Even his attitude that is always so angry, even when he is winning, when there are pressure moments, he gets angry, he shouts at his box. He was flat – completely flat – against Sinner.”
KEY MOMENTS
0.13 – When Djokovic played Mannarino, he said afterwards that being up 6-0, 6-0, 1-0 was a pressure of its own.
0.30 – Djokovic’s impressive record at the Australian Open created a pressure of its own.
0.46 – Djokovic didn’t concede games on purpose, but he may have done it sub-consciously. “The fact that he said that against Mannarino makes me think there is something there,” suggests Mouratoglou.
1.09 – Djokovic’s semi-final against Sinner was one of his worst matches ever.
1.17 – He was slow, with no energy or enthusiasm.
1.29 – Even his attitude was flat against Sinner. The fact that Sinner did not have to defend a single break point says it all.
1.37 – It was shocking to see Djokovic unable to play to his standards, in what has become his home Slam.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Even in Champions, when it's too much pressure,
00:02 sometimes they need to fail, and in a way they feel relieved.
00:05 And I would not be surprised if Novak would feel relieved after that tournament.
00:10 When Novak played against Manarino, he was up 6-0, 6-1,
00:17 and he played a bad game and he lost the game.
00:20 What struck me is what he said after the match.
00:22 "It was too much pressure to not lose one single game. I had to give away one."
00:26 He didn't do it on purpose, but he felt the pressure was too big.
00:30 Now, when you think about Novak at the Australian Open,
00:32 he didn't lose one match at the Australian Open since 2018.
00:36 He never lost a semifinal at the Australian Open.
00:38 He won 10 titles here, and in a way, it brought so much pressure.
00:43 Imagine he would win again. That would be crazy.
00:46 That's too much. And of course, he didn't do it on purpose, for sure not,
00:49 but subconsciously, he wanted to take it out of the way.
00:53 "OK, let's lose one. It's just too much for me. I can't anymore."
00:56 Kind of the same feeling as the one he had against Manarino.
00:59 The fact that he said that against Manarino makes me feel that there is something there.
01:04 During the semifinal, Djokovic played a match that is one of the worst I've seen from him.
01:12 He wasn't there. He was definitely not on that court on that day.
01:15 He was slow, no energy, no enthusiasm.
01:20 Even his attitude, that is always so angry, even when he's winning,
01:25 when there are pressure moments, he gets angry, he shouts at his box.
01:28 He was flat, completely flat.
01:31 Against Sinner, he was just missing everything.
01:33 The fact that Sinner didn't have one break point to defend the whole match says it all.
01:37 So that was very shocking to see Novak in a semifinal of a Grand Slam,
01:42 and even more at the Australian Open, that is in a way his home,
01:45 Slam, being so unable to play.
01:48 [MUSIC]