Novak Djokovic lifts lid on career slump that led to Federer revival

Novak Djokovic has opened up on the two-year slump he suffered after winning the 2016 French Open. The world No 1 appeared in Boris Becker’s new Apple TV+ documentary and admitted he felt “dull” at Wimbledon that year. It led Becker to stop working with the Serb, while Roger Federer enjoyed a resurgence during Djokovic’s difficulties in 2017 – winning seven titles.

Djokovic is one of many tennis legends featured in Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker, with the likes of John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg also appearing to discuss the German icon. The world No 1 appeared in the documentary to discuss his two-year partnership with Becker, as he was coached by the 55-year-old from 2014 to 2016.

While the 22-time Grand Slam champion explained just how Becker’s influence helped him have one of the most successful periods of his career, he also detailed a loss of motivation from mid-2016. Djokovic famously won his long-awaited first French Open title that summer, allowing him to complete the career Grand Slam.

But achieving such a highly-anticipated feat caught up to Djokovic, who suffered a shock third-round defeat to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon and ended up struggling for the next couple of years.  “If you want to be a champion, it’s all on you,” the 35-year-old told the camera, discussing his sudden dip in motivation.

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“I was going through a period where I was really looking for myself somehow off the court.” Becker himself said he noticed the issues coming in, adding: “I could see a drop in intensity, a drop in motivation. [It’s] natural, I mean how much more do you wanna win?”

Djokovic then went on to detail a moment after his Wimbledon loss where he asked to be alone, and realised he had no more to give. He explained: “I played Wimbledon third round, it was a couple of rain interruptions and I found myself in a room and I sat there and I told my team ‘Can everyone leave me? I just want to be by myself’ and I just looked at the wall and I was dull. Literally no drive inside of me.”

The 2017 season was even more difficult for Djokovic as he suffered some uncharacteristic early defeats and struggled with an elbow injury until undergoing a “medical intervention” in 2018. During his slump, Federer and Nadal were able to split the four Majors between them in 2017 while the Swiss star also returned to No 1 in the world.

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And it also led Becker to end his partnership with Djokovic, admitting that he wouldn’t be satisfied if the world No 1 wasn’t winning and only turned up to events for the sake of it. “He said ‘Listen boss, I’m really tired, I don’t want to play the way I used to,’” the six-time Grand Slam champion recalled.

Sharing what he told Djokovic, Becker continued: “‘Well listen, first of all I love you and I respect you and we’ve done something together that’s been an unbelievable journey for me. Boris Becker learned something about me and about tennis and maybe a bit about you. I’m not good at losing and if you want to go to Shanghai and you want to go to Paris and you’re happy to be there, I’m the wrong guy for you. I think we better stop.’”

Djokovic bounced back to win Wimbledon in 2018 and has since achieved the joint record for most men’s singles Major titles and the most all-time weeks at No 1. And he still counts Becker as family, adding: “Even after that he kept the relationship going like we never stopped. Because he’s always there, he’s still there. Boris is family to me.”

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