After losing to South Korea's Chung Hyeon in straight sets at the 2018 Australian Open,
Djokovic decided it was time to have surgery on the elbow that had troubled him for so long. Truth
be said, Novak appeared comfortable during practice sessions and did not look injured.
His shot tolerance was not bad on match days at Monte Carlo although we did see him shake up his
elbow from time to time during the rain delay in his match against Lorenzo Musetti. Still,
we can’t rule out the fact that there might be a reason for wearing the elbow
sleeve that he is not ready to talk about. What do you reckon? Injury concerns aside,
there is a BIGGER problem. Novak’s Monte Carlo Woes. Since 2015,
Djokovic’s returns at Monte Carlo have been anything but impressive. 3 consecutive early
exits in the last 3 editions; a straight sets loss to Dan Evans in 2021, got breadsticked by
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the 3rd set last year, and now a loss to Lorenzo Musetti in 3 sets.
Novak has only had 2 quarter final appearances at Monte Carlo since 2015. It makes you wonder
what is responsible for this trend. This year, we all thought it would be
different with Novak having enough time to prepare for the clay season after missing the Sunshine
double in the United States but it was more of the same. After managing to get past Ivan Gakhov,
a player making his Top 200 debut, Novak fell to Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 16,
handing Musetti the biggest win of his career. Back in 2021, the Italian went 2 sets up against
Djokovic at the fourth round of the French Open but ended up losing the match to the
world Number 1. Musetti was finally able to get his revenge this time against a rusty-looking
Novak who couldn’t find the rhythm on his serve. Entering into the match, Djokovic had lost serve
just 17 times in as many matches all year but dropped serve 8 times in the match. 6 double
faults, an average first serve speed of only 107 mph, and groundstrokes that were not of his usual
quality. Djokovic’s forehand in particular, left a lot to be desired; he was falling into or away
from the forehands while hitting them. He wasn’t even getting his timing, positioning, and balance
at times. 6-4, 5-7, 4-6 was the final score line. In a game that lasted almost 3 hours,
it was Musetti who found a way to banish the ghosts that had been hunting him since Roland
Garros 2021. To his credit, the 21-year-old Italian stayed patient in the long rallies,
was willing to chase balls with unbelievable court coverage, and maintained a great defensive
position from where he hit high and heavy balls to make returning more difficult for Novak who in
turn, made more unforced errors than he would have liked. Musetti remained consistent and managed to
hold his nerves at crucial moments to reach his second masters 1000 quarterfinal and improve his
head-to-head tally against Djokovic to 1-3. With a second top-5 win of his career and a
few more wins against top 10 players, the Italian would be looking more confident
moving forward. Looking to emulate other successful modern players such as Wawrinka,
Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Roger Federer, with one-handed backhands,
Musetti continues to improve his backhand and with more time to set up his groundstrokes and create a
better spin on clay, the Italian has the ability to achieve more impressive results in the future.
However, there were other factors at play in Djokovic’s loss to Musetti.
You could tell that Novak didn’t enjoy the wet and windy conditions. I’m sure if you ask the Serbian,
he’ll tell you he prefers ideal weather conditions like the ones at Indoor hard courts. The wind
possibly affected the ball toss and made it more difficult to produce an effective serve and play
offensive tennis consistently. Monte Carlo is also slower than almost every other clay court out
there, so serves often do less damage. But again, Novak’s home is in Monte Carlo, so all these
should have been expected and better prepared for. Also, there was the not-so-small issue of a code
violation that Djokovic received for racket abuse after the umpire made the wrong decision about a
ball mark that cost him a point 0:18-0:22. Amid the boos from the crowd, a frustrated
Djokovic stomped his racket with his foot. There are certainly no excuses for the Serbian’s
loss but these points are worth mentioning but bear in mind that during the first half of his
career, Monte Carlo was a good hunting ground for Djokovic. It was he who ended Rafael Nasal’s
run of 46 straight match wins in Monte-Carlo between 2005 and 2013, putting on a clinical
display to defeat the Spaniard in straight sets and lift his first title at the event. He also
ousted the Spaniard again in 2015 en route to his second title. From 2008 to 2015,
Djokovic reached the semifinals or better in seven consecutive appearances and four
of his five losses came only against Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer. So, what has changed?
Priorities? Maybe because we’ve seen a recent trend where Novak starts slow at Monte Carlo and
then starts peaking towards Rome before entering Roland Garros in top gear. Another possible reason
for his poor performances at Monte Carlo could be the long breaks he has had before the tournament,
which have left him rusty. The match was his first ATP match in over a month. With the Serb
needing more competitive matchups to hit his full stride in clay, such results can be expected.
Like the world number 1 said, practice matches and competitive matches are totally different,
and no matter the amount of preparation, it was always going to be a little difficult.
So, what’s next for the Serbian? What does the future hold?
Novak looked like he added more muscle mass coming into Monte Carlo. You just
wonder if it might help him hit the balls harder without compromising his movement.
For more than a decade, Novak Djokovic appeared to be the second-best player on clay after Rafael
Nadal. For a while, Dominic Thiem in his prime, threatened to take that position, winning the Serb
in the 2017 and 2019 editions of Roland Garros as well as a Monte Carlo win in 2018. While other
players had occasional wins against Djokovic, you could tell that he was still the man to beat after
Nadal. Djokovic is the only player to defeat Nadal at Roland Garros and all three clay-court
Masters 1000 events. 2 grand slam titles, 11 Masters 1000, and a total of 18 titles on clay;
Djokovic is certainly the second-best clay court player in this era. But there’s just one thing;
With Novak’s 36th birthday looming next month and with the threat of other players such as
Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and the rest
of the pack, it is clear that they will eventually catch up at some point on this particular surface.
We might be seeing early signs of that now but we certainly can’t make any conclusions
until after Roland Garros. Or is it too early to judge? What are your thoughts? Meanwhile,
Djokovic will need to wait a little longer to get the triple career golden masters with a win
at Monte Carlo and in Cincinnati. But seeing that no other player has done it even once makes you
appreciate the Serbian’s achievements in the game. What really happened to Novak? For me, it was
nothing serious. Just a bad day at the office, maybe a little Musetti magic too. As much as he
was a favorite to win the tournament and win a record-extending 39th Masters 1000 title,
it wasn’t too surprising to see him continue the downtrend of early round losses at the event.
But one of the reasons Novak remains arguably the greatest player in the history of the game is his
ability to respond emphatically to questions like this. One moment, you are asking what happened
to him and then the next moment he is winning another grand slam title. Never doubt the man.
Novak Djokovic’s defeat to Musetti will certainly not impact his hopes of winning the French Open
this year. On one hand, it might suggest that the Serb is vulnerable on clay but on the other hand,
you get the feeling that Novak just wasn’t inspired enough. With the stakes much higher at
the French Open and with a chance to pull ahead of Rafael Nadal in the overall number of grand slam
titles won, you’d bet that we will possibly see a much better version of Novak Djokovic by then
and whether he wins the title or not, nothing can take away his place in the history of the sport.
But one of the match-ups everyone would be looking forward to would be Djokovic versus
Carlos Alcaraz at the remaining clay events or at Roland Garros. That would be the match.
Talking about Alcaraz, what makes him so dangerous? Find out in this next video.