{"id":37827,"date":"2025-04-02T02:50:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T02:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=37827"},"modified":"2025-04-02T02:50:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T02:50:53","slug":"why-novak-djokovic-has-already-answered-his-biggest-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=37827","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic\u2019s next tournament choice confirms his mindset has changed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Why<\/figure>\n

Novak Djokovic celebrates a win at the Miami Open<\/p>\n

Roll the clock back to April 2024 and Novak Djokovic\u2019s enthusiasm for tennis appeared to be in a very different place.<\/p>\n

A heavy defeat against Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals was backed up by a shock loss against Italy\u2019s Luca Nardi at the Indian Wells Masters, with Djokovic not even trying to disguise the lack of motivation he felt when he was stepping on court.<\/p>\n

With 24 Grand Slam titles in his collection and his battle with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to be the greatest player of all-time long since won, it seemed as if Djokovic was running out of reasons to continue his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was more surprised with my level. My level was really, really bad,\u201d said Djokovic after that Nardi defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it, you know \u2013 these two things come together. He\u2019s having a great day; I\u2019m having a really bad day. Results as a negative outcome for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He would go on to suffer more surprising defeats in the clay court season, with Djokovic suggesting he would rather spend more time with his family than play in tournaments other than Grand Slams.<\/p>\n

The Djokovic of April 2024 would have been unlikely to enter the Monte Carlo Masters a week after he played a long and draining week at the Miami Open, yet flick the same clock forward to April 2025 and the mood around Djokovic feels very different.<\/p>\n

He may have lost against Jakub Mensik in the Miami Open final on Sunday, but his route to that championship match should fuel his confidence and ambitions heading into the key part of his season.<\/p>\n

We have already seen more of Djokovic than we did at the same stage of last year and, significantly, we\u2019ve also seen much more of his potential to still be a champion on the biggest of stages.<\/p>\n

His 38th birthday may be looming large next month, but Djokovic has recorded some big wins in 2025 that suggest he could still add the 25th Grand Slam title he so badly craves.<\/p>\n

Currently tied with Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam wins, Djokovic wants to be the sole owner of the most major titles and he will be daring to believe what could be a career-ending moment will come at the French Open or Wimbledon this European summer.<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic News<\/h3>\n

Every word from Novak Djokovic\u2019s press conference after Jakub Mensik Miami Open final defeat<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic picks out his most underrated shot in a revealing interview<\/p>\n

His win against Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open was a moment to savour, with the final two sets served up by Djokovic in that match as good as we have seen from him for some time in a Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

He also showed some brilliant form at the Maimi Open, with his serving moving to the next level as he found a level of accuracy that was too much for his rivals to deal with.<\/p>\n

A defeat against a young gun who served his way to success will disappoint Djokovic, but he should have headed away from Miami feeling upbeat rather than negative about what comes next.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever really happy to lose, but he\u2019s one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to, to be honest,\u201d said Djokovic in his press conference, as he saluted Mensik.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen him play when he was 15 or 16 and invited him, we had some training blocks together. He was training at my club in Belgrade, and to see his development and evolution is really great, amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see three, four years ago that he\u2019s going to be one of the top players of the world. I\u2019m super glad that he\u2019s using the potential that he has, because he\u2019s got the complete game. Obviously his serve is incredible, powerful, precise, wins a lot of free points with the first serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall obviously now bitter taste because of the loss. But Miami, as I said on the court, really brought me a lot of joy and really good sensations on and off the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very welcomed very nicely by people and supported. They were pushing me on and trying to give me strength for a comeback. Very grateful. Just enjoyed my experience overall. It was [an] amazing run.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately ended with a loss in the final, but I played some really good tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djokovic is now due to start his clay court season in Monte Carlo next week and once again, that is a clear sign of his renewed motivation.<\/p>\n

He played in Monte Carlo last year, but didn\u2019t seem to be entirely committed to his campaign as he lost against Casper Ruud.<\/p>\n

On the evidence of what we saw in Miami, Djokovic is a different beast 12 months later and he will need to be if he is to have any chance of fending off what is certain to be a hungry and motivated Jannik Sinner when he returns from his doping suspension in time for the French Open.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Why Novak Djokovic left the Miami Open as a big winner despite shock Jakub Mensik defeat<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic admitted he was struggling for motivation a year ago, but that problem appears to have been solved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\nNovak Djokovic\u2019s next tournament choice confirms his mindset has changed - 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=37827\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Novak Djokovic\u2019s next tournament choice confirms his mindset has changed - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Novak Djokovic admitted he was struggling for motivation a year ago, but that problem appears to have been solved.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=37827\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-02T02:50:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-02T02:50:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1350\" \/>\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\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=37827\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=37827\",\"name\":\"Novak Djokovic\u2019s next tournament choice confirms his mindset has changed - 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