Changed, rested Djokovic eyes hard courts
Novak Djokovic gave himself a Wimbledon title as a present before marrying longtime girlfriend Jelena Ristic this week at a luxury resort in Montenegro. The two are also expecting their first child, so Djokovic has plenty happening both on the court and off it.
Walking in fresh from holding up the trophy at the All England Club, the Serb had laughed at being asked whether he was going to resume training right away.
"Straight to practice," he grinned, joking about finding some hard courts around Wimbledon.
No, he is instead taking a bit of a break from the game.
"I think I can close the chapter of my tennis career just for little bit now," he said. "I think I deserve that for a few weeks to rest, to enjoy, be with my fiancée -- my wife-to-be -- and my family."
But Djokovic will be something of a different player once he returns to the game. Not only will he be a married man, but he will also be No. 1 in the world again, having returned to the top following his seventh Grand Slam victory. The biggest change, however, might be a mental one.
Coming into Wimbledon, Djokovic talked about the effect of not winning a Grand Slam tournament since the 2013 Australian Open, saying three defeats in Slam finals since then had affected his confidence in big moments. He brought on Boris Becker as a coach specifically to help him play better at those times, but he fell to Stanislas Wawrinka at the Australian Open this year and looked mentally and physically drained against Rafael Nadalat the French Open.
Even during the Wimbledon final against Roger Federer, Djokovic had the match well in hand during the fourth set but was broken three times after going up a break. But this time, he was able to gather himself. Like Andy Murray at the US Open two years ago, Djokovic left the court for a break after the fourth set and gave himself a lecture.
"I needed some time to refocus and forget about what happened in the fourth set," said Djokovic. "I had these positive words of encouragement to say to myself.
"I managed to have my convictions stronger than my doubts in this moment and managed to push myself the very last step to win the trophy."
That mental victory, combined with Djokovic's statement that it was the "highest quality" Grand Slam match he has played, led him to describe the contest as the "most special Grand Slam final I've played. At the time of my career for this Grand Slam trophy to arrive is crucial, especially, as I said, after losing several Grand Slam finals in a row."
The coaching relationship with Becker is also on better footing. Following the Australian Open, Djokovic's victories at Indian Wells and Miami were both with his long-term coach Marian Vadja, who was expected to be at tournaments only occasionally. Djokovic also asked Vadja to accompany Becker to the clay-court event at Rome, which is where the Serb says he and Becker finally began to communicate effectively.
"We won the tournament, the three of us, and it was actually the time when I started feeling much closer to Boris and when I actually understood what message he is trying to convey to me," said Djokovic.
Both coaches were at the French Open, as scheduled, and Becker was the only one with Djokovic at Wimbledon. Going on to win the tournament will have given the Serb more confidence in the setup, allowing him to be more settled at other tournaments.
He also expects the win to give him a lift for the rest of the season. "I'm going to try to use it in the best possible way and for my confidence to grow," he said.
All that means the new No. 1 will be the player to beat heading into the hard-court season. Djokovic now has the best winning percentage on the tour on hard courts, his favorite surface, having won 82.6 percent of his matches.
There could be other challenges, though. He has also had physical problems this season, injuring his wrist just before his first clay-court tournament and knocking his shoulder during a fall at Wimbledon, along with the usual aches and niggles. Most of the time it has not stopped him from competing, but the wear and tear could start to show as the season goes along.
For the moment, however, Djokovic has reasserted himself, setting up an interesting hard-court season. There is expected to be a resumption of his rivalry with Nadal, who was in dominant hard-court form a year ago but has produced some up-and-down performances this season.
Other Slam champs like Federer, Wawrinka and Murray will also be in the hunt, as will a group of younger players -- like Wimbledon semifinalists Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic -- who are emerging as contenders for bigger titles this season. It is a bigger cast than in recent years, leading to a more competitive field.
But all that will take shape in a few weeks. For now, Djokovic's attention is elsewhere. Specifically, at a resort in Montenegro.
"I’m very excited and joyful about the period that is coming up," he said.
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