Former WTA ace expresses concerns over Novak Djokovic being ‘too smiley’ after his Indian Wells defeat

World No. 85 Botic van de Zandschulp ended Novak Djokovic's quest for his 100th ATP title with a three-set win in Indian Wells' second round.

Former WTA ace expresses concerns over Novak Djokovic being ‘too smiley’ after his Indian Wells defeat

Novak Djokovic (Image via ATP/X)

Novak Djokovic used to face criticism for being too aggressive, but now, he’s “too smiley” and that’s really a problem, according to former WTA player CoCo Vandeweghe. Djokovic, on Saturday (March 9), lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in the Indian Wells opener.

The World No.7 was bidding to become a six-time champion in the California desert but succumbed to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat to the Dutchman, registering three consecutive defeats for the first time since 2018. Seeing this, Vandeweghe thinks Djokovic is getting comfortable with defeats and is not hungry to win more.

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But I do think that… is this Novak getting too comfortable with ‘I’m okay with losing?’ And it’s a weird feeling as a player when you have a couple of losses like that, where you see him in the press room, he’s a little bit too smiley, and you’ve got to think is he not as mentally tough as he once was?

CoCo Vandeweghe told Tennis Channel

Vandeweghe, however, is still not ready to write off the 24-time Grand Slam champion in any tournaments. The former World No.9 thinks Djokovic’s main goal is to win Majors so perhaps he’s not caring much about tournaments of other categories.

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Prakash Amritraj doesn’t agree with CoCo Vandeweghe’s remarks on Novak Djokovic

Prakash Amritraj didn’t agree with CoCo Vandeweghe as he is not of the opinion that Novak Djokovic is not hungry anymore to win tournaments. He explained that the 37-year-old perhaps has become more mature with age and is dealing with the defeats in a sophisticated manner.

Novak Djokovic (2)
Novak Djokovic (Image via ATP/X)

Do you think maybe he is processing things differently at this stage in his career? He is a bit more mature, when we are a little bit younger we are a little bit more hot-headed so maybe you see that fire and anger against the losses a bit more, but he could just have a different perspective.

Prakash Amritraj told Tennis Channel

Djokovic said his Indian Wells performance was just a “bad day in the office“. Without making any excuses, he accepted that he didn’t play a high level of tennis and that despite practicing a lot, he failed to give his best.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion is expected to play the Miami Open next to search for his 100th title. But he has not yet made the decision to feature in the second ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season. He last won a trophy on the tour at the 2023 ATP Finals.