The king is dead? Djokovic was unrecognisable in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and his performance was “shocking”. The reasons are apparently clear

His name has regularly been associated with breaking historical records. 2024 was to be the next big chance. But Novak Djokovic stumbled at the very first Grand Slam of the season. What are the reasons for the Serb’s poor performance in the semi-finals of the Australian Open? And can he be counted on for top challenges in the future?

Djokovic in the semi-finals

Friday morning completely changed the view of the situation in the ATP world. Novak Djokovic entered his match with Jannik Sinner and a match that was supposed to be a clash of generations turned into a show for the young Italian.

Djokovic was an equal opponent to the future Australian Open winner only in the third set and lost 1: 3 on sets. The end of an era and plans for a calendar grand slam devastated in three hours? It all happened.

Sure, you always play what your opponent allows you to play. And Jannik Sinner is a great tennis player. However, the final with Medvedev showed that he is a playable opponent for the Russian fighter as well. So Djokovic should have been able to play a better match against the Italian. Let us add that he himself was not at all satisfied with his performance.

This just wasn’t the world number one we know. Djokovic did not have a single break point in the whole match and made twice as many unforced errors as his generation younger opponent. So the main question is clear. Why?

The detective task

Let’s go back a few days. Djokovic was disposing of his opponent Mannarino, giving him two double faults and leading 1:0 in the third set. He couldn’t go any further without losing a game.

The tennis legend commented on the situation after the match. The pressure was simply unbearable. Not that the Serbian tennis star lost on purpose. But the pressure was so great that it prevented another extremely smooth course of the mentioned duel.

French tennis expert Patrick Mouratoglou sees a parallel to this point in Djokovic’s story. And he compares it to the Belgrade native’s long-standing performances at the Australian Open and his crash in the semifinals here this year.

“He’snever lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open. He’s won 10 titles here. And that in a way brings a lot of pressure,” he said of Djokovic’s long-term success and disappointment this year.

Every streak ends at some point, and for the legendary tennis player, it can be liberating in its own way to not have to look back to maintain it. It will certainly be interesting to see what he shows next this year.

The dream of a calendar grand slam has very quickly vanished. But Djokovic has certainly not lost his appetite to win and the huge competition he has in the upcoming generation led by Sinner and Alcaraz is a challenge like thunder.

But to bet on him to keep rolling his competition and winning three grand slams a year is definitely not something we can recommend.

Source: Tennismajors, X