{"id":29097,"date":"2025-02-27T03:51:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T03:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=29097"},"modified":"2025-02-27T03:51:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T03:51:50","slug":"novak-djokovic-suffering-from-emotional-issue-that-has-never-been-the-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=29097","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic suffering from ’emotional’ issue that ‘has never been the case’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Serbian looked a shadow of himself during his latest defeat.<\/h2>\n
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\n\"Novak<\/picture>\n

Novak Djokovic was beaten by Matteo Berretitni. (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Novak Djokovic has been accused of being \u201cflat emotionally\u201d after his first-round exit at the Qatar Open. In his first tournament since recovering from the hamstring injury that forced him out of his Australian Open semi-final, the Serbian went down 7-6(4) 6-2 to Matteo Berrettini.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old looked like a shadow of the player who had won through to the final four at Melbourne Park before limping off the court after losing the first set against Alexander Zverez.<\/p>\n

It means he is still chasing a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title and his 100th career singles title. He has insisted he has no plans to retire as long as he is competing at the top level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But now former world No.21 Steve Johnson has questioned the all-time great\u2019s current state of mind. He appeared unusually flat during his clash with Berrettini at the ATP 500 event in Doha, and Johnson questioned how much the tournament actually meant to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sometimes feels that he is a bit flat emotionally, which has usually never been the case for him,\u201d he said. \u201cSo he has earned the right to play whatever schedule he deserves and wants to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough draw going against Berrettini who played really well that match, the serve, the forehand. Everything was going well. So it\u2019s interesting to watch Novak in these events because the Doha title will not further his legacy, so I\u2019m not sure about his emotional investment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"Novak<\/picture>\n

Djokovic was forced to retire from his Australian Open semi-final. (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt just feels as if he is not as motivated to win in Dubai or Doha as he is to win a Slam because that\u2019s the only thing which can further his legacy. There are obviously financial obligations and commitments he has made; we don\u2019t know exactly what it takes for him to play these types of events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djokovic also played two matches in the Qatar Open doubles event as he made the quarter-finals with Fernando Verdasco. He entered at the request of the Spaniard, who was playing his last tournament before retirement.<\/p>\n

The world No.7 insisted that he had not been hampered by his recent injury in Doha, but was reportedly seen limping at the airport as he returned home. He\u2019s now scheduled to compete at Indian Wells next week before turning his focus to his preparation for the French Open.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Fronting up after his latest defeat, he said: \u201cYes, I wasn\u2019t at my desired level, and it could be that I\u2019m still not moving the way I want to move, but, I played without pain, so there is no excuse in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson also added he believes Djokovic will continue to try and further enhance his legacy \u201cas the greatest champion of the sport.\u201d He still needs one more Slam to move clear of Margaret Court, who currently shares his record of 24 wins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Serbian looked a shadow of himself during his latest defeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\nNovak Djokovic suffering from 'emotional' issue that 'has never been the case' - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=29097\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Novak Djokovic suffering from 'emotional' issue that 'has never been the case' - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Serbian looked a shadow of himself during his latest defeat.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=29097\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-27T03:51:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-76.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=29097\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=29097\",\"name\":\"Novak Djokovic suffering from 'emotional' issue that 'has never been the case' - 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