 "Novak Djokovic")
It seems Novak Djokovic has all of a sudden fallen in love with Will Smith. We don't really know how much he loves his movies, but the pursuit of happiness ("happyness" in Smith's case) figures curiously high on Djokovic's priority list. Perhaps the most disquieting part of it is that right now, this quest for equanimity is more important than winning tennis matches. Not that he's winning a lot of them, anyway.
Prior to his crushing straight set loss in the semifinal of the Shanghai Masters last week, this time to world number 13 Roberto Bautista Agut, Djokovic spoke about soul-searching and attaining "mental peace". From what we've seen of the Serb over the years, he has searched for only one thing: titles. Lots of titles. He even went to the extent of saying that winning Grand Slams was no longer a prime concern. When you're 29 years old and five behind Roger Federer in the all-time majors list, things of such kind shouldn't really be encumbering your mind. The mental grind can be understood, but the alarming sense of defeatism should best be left happily ignored.
After he beat Fabio Fognini in the first round in Shanghai, this is what Djokovic had to say to the media: "When I get on the court, of course I want to give my best and eventually try to win the match. But not as a priority of must-win type of mindset, because that is not working for me anymore." Putting on a maroon robe and burying his head in Buddhist scriptures may well be the next thing on his mind.
Ever since he won at Roland Garros to complete a career Grand Slam in June, Djokovic's season has been a forlorn amalgamation of injuries and sluggish performances. At Wimbledon, he bowed out to American Sam Querrey in a strange four-set match that did not even mildly threaten to snowball into one of those rollicking Djokovic comebacks - something that he has made a habit of producing when faced with adversity.
At the Olympics in Rio the following month, the world number one was shown the door in the first round by an inspired Juan Martin Del Potro. It would be fair to assume that the wrist injury that has troubled Djokovic for a major part of the year played its part there.
In the US Open final a few weeks later, Djokovic was outlasted by Stanislas Wawrinka in four wildly engrossing sets in a match that oscillated fervidly but was decided purely on the back of fine margins. Losing to Wawrinka is no shame, really - he is Marat Safin minus the petulance, which can often be lethal - but Djokovic's big match credentials should've ideally kicked in at Flushing Meadows.
Just to build up a moderate defence, though, Djokovic's losses to Del Potro and Wawrinka can be justified through pure tennis logic. Both Del Potro and Wawrinka hit big from the back of the court, which gives a player like Djokovic little time to construct rallies and tire the other man just through his astounding ability to get the ball back. Erraticism is common with players like Del Potro and Wawrinka, but when the weapons are firing right, they pretty much border on the unplayable. And, Djokovic ran into them at precisely the wrong time.
Maybe, he's just tired - because it would be fatuous to think otherwise. Mental frailties aside, Djokovic's implacable style of play - where the last ball is struck with the same tenacity as the first - was eventually going to take its toll. Moreover, rumours of an impending split with coach Boris Becker have made matters worse. That Becker is seen more at football grounds in England than on tennis courts nowadays just accentuates the problem.
Make no mistake: Djokovic is still the same tennis player. A few middling tournaments don't make him any less of a competitor. But by his lofty standards, he is sliding. Rapidly. More than just a slight physical decline, it seems that Djokovic's newly-acquired Zen-like persona is miserably failing to embrace the warrior inside that made him so great in the first place. Maybe he should just allow the warrior to win.
But despite his renouncement of the "must win mindset", there are numbers that would have Djokovic worried. Federer won his last major at 30, at Wimbledon in 2012, and Rafael Nadal last held aloft a Grand Slam at 28 - the chances of him winning one more look incredibly scarce. More than that, Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl are sure to sense this emotional turmoil and make a dash for the summit. Just six months ago, you would've been labelled mad for even suggesting the possibility of Djokovic relinquishing the top spot in men's tennis. Well, it seems like a close reality now.
