Tennis world english n 45 Tennis World english 45 | Page 5

that went the distance,
alongside 8 victories.
So even though he is
still winning the majority
of these matches, the
fact that he is being
pushed to a deciding
set so often is definitely
worrying.
Noleʼs problems in the
fifth set certainly have a
mental component to
them, but he is
physically struggling as
well. The incredible
defense that has
become his hallmark
over the past decade is
now rarely seen, and he
doesnʼt manage to
chase down nearly as
many balls as he used
to a year ago. His return
has also let him down
this season, and far
from being his go-to
weapon, now it is at times
bordering on a liability.
Another sign of his
physical issues can be
seen in the two losses he
has suffered when forced
into a deciding set. Both
those matches were
tough, long, physical
encounters, the first
against Denis Istomin at
the Australian Open and
the second against David
Goffin in Monte Carlo.
When pushed to the limit
this year he has hit a wall
of fatigue, something that
was unthinkable not too
long ago. negatively from a
physical perspective,
which has impacted his
game on the court. Not
being able to rely on his
physical dominance has
probably also caused
him some mental
distress. To be sure, he
can still call upon his
mental and physical
talents to bail him out of
tough spots on most
days, but when it comes
to the very highest level
of play against the very
best opponents, his
body and his mind are
letting him down.
It seems likely that
whatever personal
problems Djokovic had
last year led, perhaps
indirectly, to him changing
his training regimen. This
has in turn affected him So what does Nole have
to do to fix this? Itʼs hard
to say for sure, but the
physical component is
likely the most difficult to
address. His
psychological situation