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After Novak Djokovic’s unexpected decision to play at the Monte Carlo Masters was backed up by a poor performance and a defeat in his opening match, the idea that he may ‘have a problem’ was floated.
Former top ten star Arnaud Clement voiced his concerns after Djokovic’s flat performance as he lost against Chile’s world No 32 Alejandro Tabilo in his one and only match at this year’s Monte Carlo Masters.
Djokovic described his straight sets defeat against Tabilo as ‘horrible’ and Clement pondered why the Serbian agreed to play in the first ATP 1000 Masters event of the season just a few days after his draining run to the final of the Miami Open.
The shock, ultimately, is more the manner and the attitude than the elimination itself,” Clement told Eurosport France.
“It’s true that we didn’t feel he was happy on the court, we didn’t feel he was fulfilled. Did he want to? We don’t know. Did he have a problem? We don’t know. But there was certainly something wrong with Novak Djokovic.
“And it wasn’t simply the fact that his tennis wasn’t in place. He didn’t give the impression, as can often be the case with him when things aren’t going well, of finding solutions and resources.”
Clement’s comments were speculative, but a few things don’t add up when we assess Djokovic’s decision making in 2025.
He was criticised last year for playing a part-time schedule on the ATP Tour, with many experienced observers suggesting Djokovic would struggle to add to his haul of Grand Slam titles if he only played a handful of tournaments a year.
His appearance at the Qatar Open in February was a surprise a few weeks after he pulled out of the Australian Open with an injury problem and then he spent almost a month in America, playing at the Indian Wells Masters and then appearing at the Miami Open for the first time since 2019.
Taking time off after that long run away from home may have been understandable, but Djokovic appears to be ready to devote more of his time to playing tennis in 2025 and he confirmed as much by getting straight back on court in Monte Carlo.
With a lack of preparation time on clay his defeat was not a surprise, but he conceded the level of his performance was worrying.
“It was actually more like the worst day. Look, I was hoping this is not going to happen, but it was quite a high probability I’m going to play this way,” said a downbeat Djokovic.
