The last time Novak Djokovic lost 3 consecutive ATP Tour matches
Novak Djokovic’s recent woes were compounded by a shock Indian Wells defeat to world No 85 Botic van de Zandschulp on Saturday.
The world No 7 was beaten 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 by the Dutchman and has now lost three matches in a row, following his Australian Open retirement to Alexander Zverev and Qatar Open loss to Matteo Berrettini.
Worryingly for Djokovic, it is the first time in seven years that he has lost three consecutive matches – and he may not be able to bounce back quite as well as he did then.
2018 injury return
Djokovic’s recovery from his hamstring injury – which caused his Australian Open retirement – has was likely a factor in his past two losses, and a return from injury was also a factor when he lost three consecutive matches in March 2018.
After retiring injured in his 2017 Wimbledon quarter-final versus Tomas Berdych, Djokovic missed the rest of the season in his attempt to recover from a persistent elbow issue.
The Serbian finished the year as the world No 12 – his lowest year-end ranking since 2006 – and he was the 14th seed heading into the Australian Open that January.
Djokovic had already won the tournament six times by that point and looked to be rounding into strong form with early wins over Donald Young, Gael Monfils, and 21st seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
However, his run came to a halt in the fourth round with a surprise 7-6(4), 7-5, 7-6(3) loss to Hyeon Chung inside the Rod Laver Arena.
That loss seemed to disrupt any momentum Djokovic had initially built at the start of his comeback, with the Serbian struggling across the ‘Sunshine Double’.
After skipping the Middle East swing – where he has played regularly across his career – Djokovic was stunned 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-1 by world No 109 Taro Daniel in Indian Wells.
Djokovic did not have a better time of things in Miami the following fortnight, beaten 6-3, 6-4 by world No 47 Benoit Paire.
He finally got back to winning ways on the clay of Monte Carlo with an emphatic 6-1, 6-0 victory over Dusan Lajovic, though his three-match losing streak remains one of the worst runs of his career.
Djokovic’s response
Despite his slow start to the season – and three-match losing streak – Djokovic would ultimately finish 2018 as the world No 1.
He initially struggled during the clay-court swing, losing in round three in Monte Carlo, round two in Barcelona, and round two in Madrid, before a run to the semi-finals of the Italian Open – where he was beaten by Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic was then shocked by Marco Cecchinato in the French Open quarter-finals, though reached his first final of the season at the Queen’s Club – falling to Marin Cilic.
But he would then claim his 13th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and then win his 14th at the US Open, weeks after completing the Masters 1000 ‘sweep’ by sealing his first Cincinnati Open title.
Djokovic also prevailed at the Shanghai Masters that Autumn and reached the final of both the Paris Masters and ATP Finals.
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What next?
A similar such surge seems unlikely for Djokovic, who will turn 38 in May; he was still only 30 during his last three-match losing streak.
However, he will now have almost two weeks before the Miami Open, where he is set to play for the first time in 2019.
Djokovic is currently committed to playing at the event but decided to skip the tournament following a surprise defeat to Luca Nardi in Indian Wells a year ago and may make a similar decision once again.
The Miami Open brings an end to hard-court action for the first part of the season, and attention will then turn towards the European clay swing.
Last season, before Roland Garros, Djokovic reached the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters and then skipped the Madrid Open, before a shock third-round loss to Alejandro Tabilo in Rome.
He may switch his attention away from Miami and focus on his clay build-up towards the French Open.
