Novak Djokovic ‘losing his aura’ as one key reason for his struggles should not be ‘underestimated’
Novak Djokovic’s struggles in 2025 have been analysed by former world No 15 Wally Masur, who feels the great Serb is losing his “aura of invincibility.”
With a 12-7 record in 2025 so far, Djokovic is enduring a difficult campaign as he approaches his 38th birthday.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has lost his opening match at four of the seven tournaments he has played this year: Doha; Indian Wells; Monte Carlo; and Madrid.
Djokovic is currently on a three-match losing streak, with his last win coming against Grigor Dimitrov in the last four of the Miami Open in March.
The former world No 1’s runner-up result in Miami and his semi-final run at the Australian Open are the two big positives.
In an interview with Wide World of Sports, Masur expressed his concern over the routine nature of Djokovic’s losses in Madrid and Monte Carlo.
“That’s unusual. Whether it was an injury, I don’t know, it’s hard to exactly say what was going on there, but that was meek by Novak standards,” said the Australian.
“Some days, as you get to the back-end of your career, you have a day where you’re serving but you just don’t feel like there’s any pop in your shoulder, or you have a day where you feel half a step slow.
“You can play poorly when you’re 23, but you don’t feel subdued physically.
“I don’t think it matters how good you are, confidence comes with volume of matches.
“You start to play at the subconscious level where 4-all, 30-all comes along and you don’t have five thoughts in your head. It’s all very clear and you almost do things on autopilot.
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“That’s when you’re playing well. I think the top players are always kind of in that state.
“From personal experience, when you don’t have the volume of matches under your belt… you’re not quite as confident, a little bit of doubt creeps in. Don’t underestimate that for any player.
“You look at the very best players in the world; when they’re playing well, they have this incredible volume of matches. That instils confidence. You play at a subconscious level on the big points.”
Masur also pointed out that players from younger generations do not have the scar tissue of having lost to Djokovic countless times like many of his former competitors.
“He (Mensik) is a young gun who doesn’t suffer PTSD when he plays Novak,” he continued.
“That’s the other thing. Some guys have this woeful record against the top four, for example, over a generation, and they’re almost beaten before they get out on the court.
“When I played, maybe [Boris] Becker or [Ivan] Lendl [would] go on a run, and if you had to play them, you’d be like: ‘Oh no, I really need to play this guy on his bad day, not on his good day’.
“But [Botic] van de Zandschulp and Mensik, they’re a bit young and they’ve got game and they’ve got power, and they’re probably not as probably in awe.
“Maybe Novak is just losing a little bit of that mystique, that aura of invincibility. With a few losses, the locker room’s ears prick up: ‘Hey, maybe the guy is beatable, and he’s quite a scalp’.”
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