Novak Djokovic confirmed he can still compete with the top players in the game as he made it through to the French Open semi-finals, but Patrick Mouratoglou has claimed his desire to win Grand Slam titles may have gone.
Djokovic beat Alexander Zverev in the Roland Garros quarter-finals before losing out against Jannik Sinner in a competitive semi-final.
Many observers suggested Djokovic’s performances against Zverev and Sinner confirmed he could still challenge for major titles at the age of 38, but the former coach of Serena Williams has served up a different view.
In a lengthy post on Instagram, Mouratoglou has suggested the drive inside Djokovic has faded, as he believes his desperation to win may have left him for good.
“His tennis there and I can totally see him winning that match against Jannik,” said Mouratoglou. “Of course it would be a very tight match, but he has so many in the past and most of the time, he found a solution to win.
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“Level wise, he is there. Physically, he is there, but winning those matches is not about the tennis. It is more about the mental side of it.
“I did feel he accepted the dominance of Sinner on him, which is not Novak. I didn’t see the Novak I know and I still think his motivation is not high enough.
“It is there [motivation], but I don’t know exactly where it is. Is it that I still want to show the world that I’m the best? That was a little bit of his motivation before becaise everyone wasa fan of Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal] and he wanted to prove he was the best.
“It is a thin line to do everything to play and great match to I’m not going to lose this f***ing match. And this was always Novak.
“I think that was something that really drove him. He lost his drive for the reason that he’s the greatest now.”
Mouratoglou went on to explain why he felt Djoklovc lacked the desire to beat Sinner as he added: “Why did I feel that? Because of his body language in the match was different.
“He was smiling at his team. He was kind of enjoying the moment. This is not Novak. He is a fighting beast. In his career, he was closer to being angry and smashing rackets than smiling and being happy to be here.
“Now he is happy to be here in the semi-finals of Grand Slam, competing with those guys and it’s not a matter of life and death any more.
“In the final of the Olympic Games with Novak against [Carlos] Alcaraz on the same exact court ten months ago. Look at the two videos, he was a bull who would do anything to win. It was a question of life and death. This was the Olympic Games.
“I understand fully when you are fighting the fight of your life to show the world and yourself that you are the best in history, you cannot have the same motivation as he has now to win a Grand Slam. His purpose was the fight against the two others to prove who was the greatest of all-time.
Djokovic will get a chance to confirm he can get over the winning line and win a 25th Grand Slam title when he steps back onto Wimbledon’s grass courts for a tournament that gets underway on June 30.
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