Patrick Mouratoglou believes Novak Djokovic is playing low-rank events to be ready for the Australian Open as the Grand Slam race with Rafael Nadal is his only motivation
Follow Us
Patrick Mouratoglou and Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic will be often remembered as one of the unluckiest players of his generation. With the Serb refusing to take the vaccine against Covid-19 he was denied permission to play the 2022 Australian Open and the 2022 US Open while losing 2000 ranking points from Wimbledon despite defending the title.
The Serb has however accepted all these sanctions against him and continues to play on the Tour in ATP-250 events as well. Patrick Mouratoglou, former coach of Serena Williams and current coach of Simona Halep gave his views on why Nole is going for events he would have otherwise skipped.
“There is one of the most interesting thing in the history of our game that is taking place at the moment which is this race. At this stage of his career, Novak has one goal which is to win as many Grand Slams as possible because he is in the race with Rafa. He doesn’t have a lot of chances.
“He only has 2 a year, because right now he’s not playing the Australian Open and the US Open. So in order to be really efficient on those big tournaments, you need matches, you need to be in rhythm and you need to win matches. And he’s lacking that for the moment,” said Mouratoglou in a video uploaded by him.
Also Read: “Queen behaviour” Ons Jabeur hailed by fans after refusing an interview to betting sponsored channel
“Novak Djokovic needs to keep the rhythm and the motivation,”: Patrick Mouratoglou
With Djokovic winning the ATP-250 event in Tel Aviv last week, he is currently playing at the ATP-500 event in Kazakhstan. Ranked 7th due to a loss of points in Wimbledon where the Tour removed points following the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, Djokovic is working his way back to the top.
“During the pre-season, for example, where there are many more weeks, sometimes 6 of 8 weeks in a row for practice, it’s so difficult for the players. When they don’t have a short-term goal, the motivation is much more difficult to find. So I think it is difficult for him.
“I think it is also one of the reasons why he’s playing these low-rank tournaments because he needs to keep the rhythm and the motivation in order to get ready for the Australian Open. He has a tournament, he needs to be ready.
“It’s easier to go to practice than if your next tournament is in 2 months,” concluded Mouratoglou. The Frenchman’s season on the Tour as a coach has ended with Halep out for the season already post the 2022 US Open and Mouratoglou will keep analysing the rest of the Tour and players.
Stay Updated!
Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)