Marian Vajda: 'Novak Djokovic lacked motivation after securing year-end no. 1 honor'

Novak Djokovic has been the player of the season for the sixth time in his career, securing the year-end no. 1 honor and joining Pete Sampras at the top of the charts. The Serb made an impressive start of the year at the ATP Cup, the Australian Open, Dubai and Cincinnati, rattling off one win after another and standing as the US Open's clear favorite. Instead of chasing the crown in New York, Novak got defaulted for the first time in his career against Pablo Carreno Busta, ending the winning streak and bouncing back in Rome to claim the 36th Masters 1000 crown. Eager for more at Roland Garros, Djokovic prevailed over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-final, reaching the final clash against Rafael Nadal that the Spaniard won in straight sets, leaving Novak on one Major crown in 2020. Motivated to seal the year-end no. 1 battle as soon as possible, Djokovic asked for a wild card in Vienna, winning the opening two rounds and earning enough points to keep Nadal behind him for the rest of the year.

In the quarter-final, Djokovic experienced one of the toughest losses in a career to Lorenzo Sonego, competing with no desire after achieving what he came for. Skipping the Paris Masters, Novak was the top seed at the ATP Finals, seeking the first London crown since 2015. After a strong start against the outsider Diego Schwartzman, Novak suffered a heavy loss to Daniil Medvedev, closing the engines after the seventh game of the opening set and preparing for the deciding clash against Alexander Zverev. Raising his level, Novak won that one in straight sets to reach the semis, facing Dominic Thiem for a place in the title match.

Novak Djokovic lost to Dominic Thiem at the ATP Finals despite having chances.

The Austrian scored a thrilling 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 victory in two hours and 54 minutes, advancing into the second straight title match and leaving Novak empty-handed. It was their 12th meeting and the fifth victory for the Austrian, who came back from 4-0 down in the deciding tie break to bring the victory home. Novak lost serve only once in the opener, giving his best after fending off four match points in set number two and wasting that massive advantage in the final breaker to finish his run in the semis. Djokovic's coach Marian Vajda said that Novak lacked motivation a bit at the ATP Finals after securing the year-end no. 1 honor in Vienna, still missing a massive chance to fight for the title.

"After securing the year-end no. 1 honor in Vienna, Novak lacked motivation a bit in London. He led 4-0 against Dominic Thiem in the deciding tie break but couldn't make that extra push and bring the victory home. In the end, the Russian claimed the last ATP Finals crown in London, just like Nikolay Davydenko did during the first edition in the O2 Arena in 2009. We had 12 great years in London, even though the conditions were challenging this season due to that bubble and restrictions," Marian Vajda said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3md55Eb