Novak Djokovic has opened up on the two-year downturn he suffered after winning Roland-Garros in 2016. The world number 1 appeared in Boris Becker’s new documentary on Apple TV+ and admitted he felt “boring” at Wimbledon that year. This led to Becker quitting working with the Serb, while Roger Federer enjoyed a resurgence during Djokovic’s struggles in 2017 – winning seven titles.
Djokovic is one of many tennis legends featured in Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker, with John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg also appearing to talk about the German icon. The world number one appeared in the documentary to talk about his two-year partnership with Becker, as he was coached by the 55-year-old from 2014 to 2016.
While the 22-time Grand Slam winner explained how Becker’s influence helped him enjoy one of the most successful periods of his career, he also described a loss of motivation from mid- 2016. Djokovic won his long-awaited first title at Roland Garros that summer, which gave him the Grand Slam of his career.
But achieving such a highly anticipated feat caught up with Djokovic, who suffered a shock third-round loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon and ended up struggling for the next two years. “If you want to be a champion, it’s up to you,” the 35-year-old told the camera, referring to his sudden drop in motivation.
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“I was going through a period where I was really looking for myself outside the court”. Becker himself said he noticed the trouble ahead, adding: “I could see a drop in intensity, a drop in motivation. [It’s] natural, I mean how much longer do you want to gain? »
Djokovic went on to describe a moment after his Wimbledon loss where he asked to be alone and realized he had nothing left to give. He explained: I played the third round of Wimbledon, there were a few rain interruptions and I found myself in a room, sat down and said to my team: “Is this that everyone can leave me? I looked at the wall and I was sad. I literally had no motivation in me.”
The 2017 season was even more difficult for Djokovic, who suffered uncharacteristic early defeats and battled an elbow injury until he underwent “medical intervention” in 2018. During his fall, Federer and Nadal managed to share the four Majors in 2017, while the Swiss star also became world number 1 again.
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It also led to Becker ending his partnership with Djokovic, admitting he wouldn’t be happy if the world No. 1 didn’t win and only showed up for fun. He said to me: “Listen, boss, I’m really tired, I don’t want to play like before”, recalls the six-time Grand Slam winner.
Recounting what he said to Djokovic, Becker continued: “’Listen, first of all I love you and I respect you and we’ve done something together which has been an amazing journey for me. Boris Becker learned something about me, about tennis and maybe a little about you. I don’t like to lose and if you want to go to Shanghai and Paris and you’re happy to be there, I’m not the person for you. I think we better stop.
Djokovic bounced back by winning Wimbledon in 2018 and has since achieved the joint record for most major men’s singles titles and most weeks in first place ever. And he still considers Becker family, adding, “Even after that, he kept the relationship going like we never stopped. Because he is always there, he is always there. Boris is part of my family”.
