Novak Djokovic told there is one ‘fix’ that could make a big difference by leading tennis voice
Leading tennis commentator and former player Robbie Koenig has revealed the one “fix” he thinks Novak Djokovic could benefit from implementing in the off-season ahead of 2026.
Djokovic is third in the Race to Turin, behind only Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, despite only playing a limited schedule of 12 tournaments this season.
The 38-year-old tennis legend is still widely regarded as the third best player in the world when healthy and at his best, but physical issues have been his biggest obstacle in the last 18 months.
The Serbian reached the semi-finals at all four Grand Slams this year, but he was unable to win a set in any of these last four encounters. He was derailed by injuries at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while he looked physically spent after two sets of his US Open semi-final with Alcaraz last month.
The theme of Djokovic’s body not cooperating continued at the Shanghai Masters, where the world No 5 battled various ailments en route to the semi-finals. The 24-time major winner looked hampered in his shock semi-final loss to Valentin Vacherot.
Speaking on the Inside-In podcast, Koenig — who played professionally between 1992 and 2005 — argued Djokovic’s cardio is holding him back after his latest physical setback.
“It’s still remarkable what he’s able to do,” said the South African, who was ranked as high as 28th in doubles. “I still love standing courtside watching him play, watching him warm up. I’m just gobsmacked with what I see.
“My biggest takeaway is probably the fact that… I wonder how much cardio work he’s been doing?
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“And I’ve said it the whole year, even when I saw him playing in Australia, I just get the feeling that — and this is me just guessing, I don’t know — that he is more concerned about keeping the body healthy and therefore not working as hard on the cardio side, and neglecting that a little bit because he wants to stay injury-free.
“At least he can start a tournament knowing that, ‘Okay, I’m 100% injury-free, my lung level and my legs might not be as strong, but I can play myself into fitness’. And I think we’ve seen that a little bit historically.
“But I think this year, he’s been found short physically, that is my eye test, when I see him even after a couple of games in the opening set, after a long rally, and you can see how heavily he’s breathing. That says to me, maybe he hasn’t been pushing the cardio as hard as what he has in other seasons.
“So for me, I think that would my fix for Novak. It’s the only thing I see. A little more on the Versaclimber, a little more sprints on the bike, maybe the rowing machine.
“The guy knows how to play tennis, right? He doesn’t have to hit as many balls as other guys, but I know if the VO2 can get up there, I think he’s… that’s the only fine-tuning I would do.
“I don’t know what else is going on in the background, whether he’s struggling with a certain shot here or there. It certainly didn’t look like it.
“When you’re physically in a great space, for me that’s the magic dust. It affects everything. You serve better, you return better, you hit your forehand and backhand better. You close the net down better. So that would be my fix for Novak in the off-season.”
Djokovic was beaten by world No 2 Sinner in the semi-finals of the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh on Thursday.
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