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Novak Djokovic started the European clay court season eyeing a move back into the top four of the ATP Rankings, but he is now facing a huge slide backwards after a couple of thumping defeats.
Djokovic raised hopes that he could still compete with the young guns on the ATP Tour as he made it through to the Miami Open final in March.
Even after a defeat against Jakub Mensik in the Miami finale, Djokovic should have been inspired by his encouraging performance, but he has failed to back that up in his opening two clay court events.
A defeat against Alejandro Tabilo at the Monte Carlo Masters came amid what Djokovic described as a ‘horrible’ performance.
He backed that up with another defeat against Matteo Arnaldi in his opening match in Madrid before confirming he was pulling out of this week’s Rome Masters.
You know, trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament. It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis, so it’s kind of a challenge for me mentally to really face this kind of sensation on the court, going out early now regularly in the tournaments.
“I guess, the circle of life and the career, eventually, it was going to happen. Now I’m trying to, you know, use this as a driving force for the future. Obviously, Grand Slams, I was saying many times, are the most important tournaments for me.
