By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, November 22, 2016
"(Novak) didn't have any opponents anymore. His time was with Nadal, with Federer. Andy (Murray) was always the fourth guy," coach Boris Becker said.
Photo credit: Ashley Western/CameraSport
The absence of champion rivals contributed to Novak Djokovic's motivational malaise, says coach Boris Becker.
Becker, who celebrates his 49th birthday today, told CNN's World Sport the absence of archrivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal took a toll on Djokovic's motivatation.
Watch: Murray Dethrones Djokovic, Earns Year-End No. 1 Ranking
"He didn't have any opponents anymore," Becker told World Sport today. "His time was with Nadal, with Federer. Andy (Murray) was always the fourth guy.
"So he lost a little bit of his opponents. Murray is showing something he hasn't shown before."
Djokovic has won six of his 12 career Grand Slam titles working with Becker as head coach. Long-time coach Marian Vajda has also been a strong contributor to the second-ranked Serbian's team.
Becker said Djokovic's expanding off-court interests limited the team's time together this season.
"As the head coach of this tennis team, our hands were a little bit tied," Becker said. "He was focusing on off-court priorities, he wanted to spend more time with his family, he has other business interests.
"He earned his time, he earned his space. He was like a machine for two-and-a-half years so all power to him. It's just from the tennis side, we were a little bit...we didn't know what to do."
The Hall of Famer believes Djokovic's straight-sets loss to Murray in the ATP World Tour Finals championship could reignite his passion for next season.
"If I have one guy that I have to play for my life, I would pick Novak Djokovic—that's how much I trust him," Becker said. "This could be possibly a turnaround for Novak Djokovic's 2017. As much as this loss is going to hurt him, it's probably going to inspire him to be re-motivated and re-energized for next year."
The question is: Will Becker be on board in 2017?
Djokovic declined to address his coaching situation after Sunday's loss in London.
The Roland Garros champion's relationship with former Spanish pro Pepe Imaz has caused speculation Imaz, who runs his own Love and Peace Academy in Marbella, Spain, will assume greater coaching role in 2017.
At the Paris Masters earlier this month, Djokovic shot down reports Imaz is a spiritual guru and called Imaz part of his coaching team.
"I'm not going to go into details, because there is no sense. I know certain media is trying to find a story here in calling him guru," Djokovic said in Paris. "I'm not going to give any room for speculations anymore. He's been there, and he's part of the coaching team and that's all."
A year ago today, Djokovic defeated Federer to capture his record fourth consecutive ATP World Tour Finals title.
Afterward, Djokovic delivered deep praise for Becker on his coach's then 48th birthday.
"(Boris) has put a lot of energy and effort and contribution to this team. He's going through emotions off the court, the same emotions he was going through on the court when he was playing," Djokovic said. "He understands. He feels me. Same Marian (Vajda), same all the team...
"I'm sure that Boris wants me to do well, and I want to do well with him more. I know definitely we going to work next year together and hopefully many years after that."
The decisions Djokovic makes about his team over the next five weeks could play a pivotal role in his evolution as a player and efforts to regain No. 1.
"I've had better seasons results-wise. But every year is an evolution for me," Djokovic said of 2016. "It's a different year. I mean, it's hard to expect to repeat all these things forever. I mean, nothing is eternal. I know there are other players coming up, present players that are getting stronger. I'm trying to do the same thing. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.
"All in all, it's one great lesson that you have to accept and move on hopefully as a wiser person and as a better player."