Patrick Mouratoglou has suggested there are two different versions of Novak Djokovic that we see in the majors.
The Frenchman thinks the Serb enters the major title tournaments with the intent to either ‘conquer’ them or to evade the loss and that we witnessed the former in last week’s US Open final. Djokovic trumped #3 seed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to claim his 4th title at Flushing Meadows and also set the open era record for 10th US Open final appearances.
The 24-time GS champion won the grueling second frame that went to a length of over 100 minutes and in process also saved a set point in the tie break to claim his third Grand Slam crown in 2023. With the exception of a narrow five set loss to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon Championships, the 36-year-old won all three GS’s of the seasons for the fourth time in his career which is a men’s record.
The Simona Halep coach shared a video on his Instagram account in which he explained how Djokovic’s mentality differs in the championship matches of majors.
“In this 2023 US Open final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev, two things were key in that final. The first thing was his (Djokovic’s) mindset. In finals of Grand Slams there are two different Novaks,” argued the Frenchman.
“There is the Novak that comes to conquer – and when he is like that and he plays his best tennis – he’s the best player in the world. And there’s the Djokovic who comes to the final to avoid losing. And this one is beatable – is extremely difficult to beat – but he is beatable. In that Grand Slam final [against Medvedev], he came to conquer and he did.”
The French tennis coach, who has worked with Simona Halep, 23-time GS Champion Serena Williams, Stefanos Tsitsipas, 2023 US Open Champion Coco Gauff and Holger Rune, also broke down the tactical prowess of the Djokovic in his 10th final at Flushing Meadows.
“The second element that was key I think was the tactical element. When he’s playing Daniil, he knows it’s going to be a tough match because they have the same type of game,” assessed the 53-year-old.
“And the more the rally goes, the more it goes in the favour of Daniil. So he has to find a way to shorten the points, and he has to find a way when he rallies not to put himself in trouble.
“And I think in that final, it was very tactical. He did two things that he didn’t do so much in the previous matches with Daniil. First of all, he played serve-and-volley much, much more. That’s one thing. The net play, that was something that was definitely not part of his game.
“And the second element was to use the centre of the court also. Because if you move only right and left to Daniil, he barely misses. And the further on the sides he is, the more he finds angle to counter-attack you. And in that final, he was very smart to play: right, left, centre; right, left, centre – a lot.
“And when he came back to the centre, he either had a shot to go for the winner or Daniil missed. On top of the fact that he played his best tennis and that mentally he looked very confident.”