Novak Djokovic bemoaned “some awful mistakes” as he went down to a shock defeat against world No 85 Botic van der Zandschulp in Indian Wells.
This was Djokovic’s third straight loss at ATP Tour events, and it raised renewed questions about his ability to motivate himself outside the four grand slams.
At the majors – and the Olympic Games – Djokovic remains an intimidating presence, as he recently demonstrated by reaching the semi-finals of January’s Australian Open.
But regular tournaments are a very different matter. In Indian Wells on Saturday, Djokovic could barely land a forehand inside the court for the opening set of his 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 loss.
Even though he recovered to win the second set, which he celebrated with a roar and a fist pump, the accuracy then drained out of his game again in the decider.
This defeat follows a first-round loss to Matteo Berrettini in Doha, and before that an unexpected third-round exit at the hands of American servebot Reilly Opelka in Brisbane on January 3.
“Being consistent for so many years, obviously you have high expectations of yourself,” said a thoughtful Djokovic after the match. “Things are different obviously for me the last couple of years. I’ve been struggling to play on the desired level.
“Every now and then, I have a couple of good tournaments, but mostly it’s really a challenge. It’s a struggle for me.”
Djokovic came into this week in an apparently buoyant mood. He had persuaded his new coach Andy Murray to join him for the so-called “Sunshine Double” of Indian Wells and Miami, two Masters 1000 events which run back-to-back and occupy the entirety of March.
Now, this early loss will leave the pair with a lengthy wait until Djokovic is due to play again, in around a fortnight’s time. The opportunity is there to put in a serious training block, should they both have the appetite to do so.
“Still haven’t talked with Andy and the team,” said Djokovic on Saturday afternoon, “so going to do that and make a plan.”
Appetite does seem to be a problem for Djokovic, at least when he is playing for anything less prestigious than the 25th major title that would put him out on his own, breaking the existing tie with 1970s Australian legend Margaret Court.
As soon as you drop down a level, even to the Masters 1000 tier where Djokovic has won a record 40 titles, he struggles to find a reason to get excited.
On a practical level, he needs rankings points to maintain his seeding at the majors and thus avoid the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the early rounds. But it must be difficult to work up enthusiasm for events he has played so many times before. Fourteen times before, in the case of Indian Wells.
This year, there has also been an extra challenge in the Californian desert. There is a different company providing the court surfaces, with Laykold replacing Plexipave. And according to Djokovic, the stadium court is playing very differently to the practice courts.
“Ball is bouncing on the centre courts higher than some of the highest clay courts, to be honest,” he explained. “Yeah, just struggled a lot with that. Couldn’t find the rhythm.”
Djokovic had done a good job of sounding up for this event in Thursday’s preliminary press conference. “Other than slams,” he said, “[there are] few tournaments that really give me inspiration when I wake up in the morning. Indian Wells and Miami are definitely at the top of that list. I’m excited to be here and with Andy on board.”
But the nature of this performance tells a very different story, even if we shouldn’t forget to credit van der Zandschulp – who is developing a reputation as a giant-killer after last year’s surprise victory over Alcaraz at the US Open – for a highly efficient display.
With top seed Alexander Zverev losing to van der Zanschulp’s compatriot Tallon Griekspoor on Friday, the catchline for this year’s BNP Paribas Open should be “Go Dutch”.
