Novak Djokovic Struggling To Get Some Matches In Before Wimbledon
Djokovic has been a little unsure of himself lately, stating his loss in confidence several times in interviews, and talking about how ‘life’ has been troubling him lately. In fact, Djokovic’s loss in faith probably stemmed from his early losses in the season, culminating in a separation from his coaching team, and in some ways, it seems, the physical world.
Djokovic seems less a professional athlete, and more like a lost soul,
looking for mental and emotional satisfaction, things that he seems unable to find on court, which could be the reason why he had spiritual guru Pepe Imaz in his box during Roland Garros.
In light of his newly lost confidence, Djokovic decided to break a tradition he has upheld since 2010, which was to not play a warm up tournament before Wimbledon. This year, Djokovic decided to play Eastbourne, getting a wildcard entry. Even then it seems like luck isn’t on Djokovic’s side. Djokovic’s ambitions of getting more match time were thwarted during his second round match against Vasek Pospisil, where the pair managed to complete only a single game before it began to pour. Eventually play was suspended for the entire day.
There is one thing that will bring up Novak’s spirit though, and that is the fact that Andre Agassi will be there with him for all his matches at Wimbledon. Novak shows indication of being enamored by the eight time Grand Slam Champion, especially since Novak seems to be looking for the one thing that Andre Agassi was able attain by the end of his career; balance.
Although Andre was unable to stay past the first week of Roland Garros because of prior commitments, and is unable to attend ATP even in Eastbourne, he will be joining Djokovic, and whatever meager team he has left, before Wimbledon begins.
“He will be in London for Wimbledon and will stay as long as I stay in the tournament, so that’s great. The eight or nine days that we spent together at Roland Garros were very valuable for me to get to know him, to learn from him,” said Novak.
“We shared a lot off experiences on and off the court… I’m just looking forward to spending as much quality time with Andre as I can.”
From the looks of it, the relationship between Andre and Djokovic seems to be less of the coach-student relationship that Boris Becker and Novak had. Instead it seems like Djokovic is getting more of a ‘life perspective’ on tennis from Andre, rather than tactics and game plans. Andre also has an extremely flexible work schedule, indicating that Novak doesn’t need him on a match-to-match basis, but instead needs him for a change in mentality.
“For now we’re going with the flow. First of all, I appreciate his consideration of to work with me and be with me, so we don’t have anything formal. We don’t have anything signed. It’s just as much as he can or feels to be with me.”
With a little more luck, maybe Andre’s ‘balanced’ vibes will rub off on our ‘seeking soul’ Novak.