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Novak Djokovic faces season of ups and downs, says coach

By Russell FullerBBC tennis correspondent

Last updated on .From the section Tenniscomments42

Novak Djokovic

Within seconds of securing his first title of 2014, Novak Djokovic headed to the front row of seats to give two bear hugs to the man who has been by his side for each of his six Grand Slam triumphs.

Indian Wells was Marian Vajda's first coaching assignment of the season. It was decided last year to reduce his schedule so that he could spend more time with his family, and allow Boris Becker to bring all his Grand Slam experience to the role of head coach.

The handover has not been without its teething problems. Djokovic was beaten by Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and lost to Roger Federer in the semi-finals in Dubai, before beating Federer in a third set tiebreak to clinch the first Masters series event of the year in southern California.

That may not sound like cause for concern, yet without Djokovic's exceptional resilience and vast reservoirs of mental strength, he would not have squeezed past Federer in Indian Wells. He admits to fluctuating levels of both confidence and concentration, and Marian Vajda thinks it may be a while before Djokovic becomes completely comfortable with his new team.

"Maybe [this] one year we see his level [being] a little up and down, but maybe in the long run it will have a good effect on his tennis," he told me when we met in the players' restaurant at the weekend.

"Obviously it's a big change. He was used to seeing me there, he was used to my process, to my practices, to my remarks on every match, and everything was running smoothly.

"Obviously my presence was for him important, but we will see how it goes. He has to get used to another coach besides me and it's not easy, it takes time.

"It's not like this," he says, raising his hand in the air and clicking his fingers. "It's not a miracle, it's a process."

Vajda - a former top 40 singles player from Slovakia - will spend about 12 weeks of the year with Djokovic. He will train with the world number two in the run up to next month's clay court tournament in Monte Carlo, and then return to the tour for events in Madrid, Toronto and Beijing.

Djokovic has won four Australian Open titles, and Vajda has been there for every one. So can he genuinely say he didn't miss being in Melbourne at the start of the year?

"No," he replied, breaking into a huge smile. "I have to say no - I enjoy my time with my family."

"On the other side, obviously I watched all Novak's matches and I felt pretty much more relaxed than on the court. Sometimes I was under so much good stress I forgot about seeing the game. Now when I am [watching] on TV I see the things which I don't see before, so it's also something positive."

Boris Becker was not on the initial five-man shortlist of former Grand Slam champions drawn up for the role of head coach, but turned out, in the words of Vajda, to be "the best solution for Novak".

Becker was not in Indian Wells this week, but spoke to Vajda and Djokovic at least every other day, and will be on duty at this week's Masters event in Miami.

"I think there are many more positives that I can look up to than negatives in working with Boris," Djokovic told me after his semi-final win over John Isner.

"It's just the beginning of the co-operation, and you can expect in a way that it takes a little bit of time for us to understand each other - the way we work and the way we are as people on and off the court."

Many people in tennis don't think the relationship will endure, and some even predict that Becker will be back in the BBC TV commentary box in time for Wimbledon.

John McEnroe, on a visit to our studio at the BNP Paribas Open, told me that the ideal scenario would be for Vajda to continue as a full time coach with Becker added to the team for the big events.

"I think either he's going to find this isn't going to work out or he's going to try to get it where he has both of the guys there at the same time at a French Open, or even at an event like this," he said.

"I think that would be to me the way he can get that extra one or two percent that he's trying to get from Boris. It just seems somewhat unusual, I think it is safe to say: awkward would be a word that would come to mind.

"[Boris] is used to sort of being the guy and having everyone doting over him and making sure that everything is OK for him. So for him to do that for someone else, it'll be interesting to see if he can figure a way to sort of be in the background, but also add something of substance."

Djokovic is not a man easily swayed by public opinion, but has shown the desire to make changes if he doesn't feel he is squeezing out every last drop of potential. Todd Martin [as a coach] and Wotjek Fibak [as a consultant] both proved to be short term hires, and Djokovic is desperate to recapture his dominance of 2011.

Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open will tell him all he needs to know about the merits of the current coaching set up. And he has an excellent springboard for success now that he's outlasted a Grand Slam-strength field in the Californian desert.

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42 comments

  • Comment posted by British Imperial, at 14:52 17 Mar 2014

    According to Maria Sharapova, Djokovic would benefit from cutting down from 5 sets to 3 in the Slams.

    No Maria, no-one wants that. There's a reason the mens game is so watchable, with excellent players regularly playing outstanding tennis for 3-5 hours while in the womens, you blink and Serena Williams has already won.

  • Comment posted by U14480959, at 16:28 17 Mar 2014

    Djokovic may have had an understated start to the season, but look at who has beaten him in the main tournaments; the eventual winner at the AO and a resurgent and very much on form Federer in Dubai. Djokovic will challenge for No. 1, no doubt about that.

    The real worry is Murray; he plays Miami next, has 1,000 points to defend, and is in dreadful form; he is nowhere near the top at the moment.

  • Comment posted by Berba_Was_King, at 15:20 17 Mar 2014

    @13 - I agree. Billie Jean King thinks the men's game would be better served if they played best of 3 in Slams. No, it wouldn't it would just mean there is less criticism of the women for earning the same as the men in the slam's for less than half the work!

    @7 - Yes, somebody needs to step up and take on Nadal on the Parisian clay. Del Potro has the game but not the fitness, Djoko has to do it.

  • Comment posted by U14980039, at 11:37 18 Mar 2014

    @33
    I'd agree with you except for one thing

    There's been 46 ATP Masters 1000 events (which are 3-set matches)

    Nadal 14 titles
    Djok 13 titles
    Fed 9 titles
    Murray 9 titles

    No more than 1 win for anyone else (Davydenko, Ferrer, Ljubičić, Roddick & Söderling)

    So even with 3-sets the best still tend to win (but I do want 5-set GS matches, for both men AND women).

  • Comment posted by British Imperial, at 13:58 17 Mar 2014

    It is an interesting appointment; there doesn't seem to be an awful lot wrong in Djokovic's game- he's a model of consistency for reaching the later stages of major events, just fallen down in quite a few finals of late, apart from in Australia. Doubt it will be a long-term appointment; more just a see what Boris can teach him.

  • Comment posted by Ray Morron, at 10:40 19 Mar 2014

    I think the jury's out regarding Becker. He may be able to help Novak with his volleying technique but I'm not sure what else he has to offer. Regarding 3 or 5 sets I suggest that all of Sharapova's matches be 1 set. She is the most 1 dimensional player in the history of the women's game. That she has won all 4 slams is more a reflection on the standard of the opposition than on her ability.

  • Comment posted by U2603014, at 19:22 18 Mar 2014

    @37 Djokovic does not see the type of person to do anything to do anything desperate, Obviously Vajda was going to take a bit of a backseat so he had to bring in someone. Time will tell whether it works out!

  • Comment posted by The Uncomfortable Truth, at 10:08 18 Mar 2014

    With 5 sets there is very little luck involved in winning a slam, which is why the four outstanding players have dominated finals for years. That's how it should be. And when a different player, like Stan in Oz, breaks the oligopoly nobody can say he was lucky. Okay, Rafa was injured in the Oz final but Stan already beat Novak in 5, surviving a fierce comeback. Best of 5 gives us worthy champions.

  • Comment posted by U15782249, at 23:59 17 Mar 2014

    With three sets, you just don't get the drama and ebbs/flows of a five setter. Nor do you get the opportunities for dramatic comebacks, like Mr Murray has done in the past. @26 would you also advocate changing Davis cup matches to 3 setters?

  • Comment posted by Pierre, at 20:04 17 Mar 2014

    @23 Well it would be but Nadal is also 'up & down' this year having suffered some surprising defeats.

  • Comment posted by martoon196, at 19:54 17 Mar 2014

    Djokovic up & down, Murray not recovered from surgery and Federer waning, this is Nadals opportunity to break all the records.

  • Comment posted by Pierre, at 16:46 17 Mar 2014

    @18 You make a good point about AM. He has Miami & Wimbledon points to defend although anything he gains in the Clay Court season will be a bonus as he missed that out altogether last year.
    Rafa has bucketloads of points to defend & cannot possibly repeat last year so may well move to #2 by the end of year. The Fed will benefit from his relatively poor year in 2013 not many points to defend.

  • Comment posted by Pierre, at 15:18 17 Mar 2014

    He is definitely happier when Vajda is present & I'm not sure what BB will bring to the party. Yesterday should help with the confidence though & what is worrying for the rest is he didn't even play that well but still won. I agree with others that he'll finish 2014 at #1 & really hope he wins the French.

  • Comment posted by eddie-george, at 13:41 17 Mar 2014

    He's going to be fine. If he stays fit, fully expect him to hold the #1 ranking come year end.

  • Comment posted by Berba_Was_King, at 12:40 17 Mar 2014

    Good to see more competition at the stop and nice to see Federer in amongst it. Would love to see him win one more slam.

    Hoping Del Potro can stay fit as has the talent to trouble the best on ALL surfaces. Djokovic to end the year as No.1 for me, Nadal won't have the same year that he had last.

  • Comment posted by U15835371, at 11:46 17 Mar 2014

    I think its been a strange season overall so far. Neither Djokovic, Nadal or Murray have found true form yet and the overall quality has been lower than what we've been treated to over the last 5 years. Hopefully yesterday's win will give Novak some confidence and we'll see everyone raise their games in Miami.

  • Comment posted by The Uncomfortable Truth, at 18:05 18 Mar 2014

    @37 I agree with you. I thought Murray's appointment of Lendl was inspired, and a very brave admission he wasn't finding that last 1% of mental fortitude to beat the very best in a GS semi or final. Not saying Becker will do any harm, but I fail to see what he'll bring to the party. Hopefully Vajda will be around for Wimbledon, as I quite like Becker as a commentator.

  • Comment posted by The Uncomfortable Truth, at 14:51 18 Mar 2014

    Hi Dr Ads, that's a great stat you posted and you make a good point. Since ATP Masters 1000 started in 2009, only 6 different players outside the Big 4 have even reached a GS final (3 of them actually in 2009 before Murray and Djokovic improved so much). You're right it seems in the more important 3 set events the best tend to win, and I think 5 makes it even more likely.

  • Comment posted by U2603014, at 11:41 18 Mar 2014

    Djokovic wants to win the French more than anything. If he can somehow breaks Nadals strangle-hold on it then I think he can win Wimbledon and the US Open. Not sure about the Becker influence but its early days yet.

  • Comment posted by Addicks_Addict, at 09:57 18 Mar 2014

    Three set matches just don't have the same appeal, there is much less potential for drama.

    Think of all the fantastic comebacks we've seen over the years, none of these classic encounters would have happened...

    Men's tennis draws bigger crowds and gets more media focus, it ain't broke, so why try and fix it by making it the same as a less successful format?

    Maybe the women should play 5...

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