Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion and the current world No. 2, was defeated in straight sets by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, July 14. The way in which the Serbian player was overpowered left his fans quite disappointed.
Earlier this year, Novak Djokovic ended his five-year professional relationship with coach Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champion from Croatia. Their partnership had resulted in 12 Grand Slam titles. Ivanisevic’s presence in Djokovic’s box might have been beneficial for the Serb.
Did Djokovic do anything wrong tactically in the final?
In an unusual move, Djokovic frequently attempted to shorten the rallies by approaching the net early in the match. However, his approaches often lacked power, enabling Alcaraz to easily hit passing shots. As a result, Djokovic lost the majority of those points.
Additionally, Alcaraz executed his down-the-line forehand from the deuce court exceptionally well throughout the match. In contrast, Djokovic frequently missed his down-the-line shots, making it easier for his opponent.
What could the Serb have done differently with Ivanisevic in the box?
Returning from a knee injury, Djokovic was not at his peak form during the Wimbledon final. Consequently, he struggled to keep up with Alcaraz’s powerful groundstrokes. It was clear that Djokovic had little chance of winning if Alcaraz was able to dictate the match with his forehand.
Therefore, the logical strategy for Djokovic was to target Alcaraz’s backhand, limiting the Spaniard’s opportunities to unleash his powerful forehand but Novak Djokovic made so many mistakes and he gave almost all the shots to his favourite place resulted so many winners against him , therefore Spaniard was able to break his serve
In the third set, Djokovic attempted this strategy by hitting his inside-out forehand towards Alcaraz’s backhand, gaining better control of the match. This led to the set going into a tiebreaker after Alcaraz had dominated the first two sets. Additionally, Djokovic could have used the backhand slice more frequently to change the pace of the rally, forcing Alcaraz to generate more power in his shots.
A mentor or a coach is very important in any sport to be a successful player. So this might be the reason Novak is not able to win even a single title in 2024.
In the presence of Goran ivanisevic, the serb broke so many records and achieved a lot.In the last year(2023) at the age of 36 he won three Grand slams and reached in the finals of all the Grand slams .
So according to many fans and experts Novak Djokovic actually missing part is his coach and he should again call his coach to take his services to get good results in upcoming events.