Novak Djokovic has endured one of his worst years on the ATP Tour, with a dip in form, shock losses, injury layoff and a lone title at the start of the season in Doha. The World No 2 has even parted with his long-time coach and is looking to start with a fresh slate, ahead of the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open, where he is the defending champion.

Currently in Italy to play the Rome Masters, Djokovic opened up about his uncharacteristic season so far, rediscovering his mojo and how he is believes his game is in a transition phase.

“If I could describe my tennis in one word, I feel like I’m in transition. From the beginning of my career, I have been very fortunate to experience only an upwards direction in my success and results. I have been playing at a high level and with consistent results for many years. After winning Roland Garros, I didn’t know how I was going to feel. I never had that issue after winning a big trophy, of bouncing back and finding new ways to motivate and inspire myself,” he was quoted as saying by the official ATP website.

The Serb also accepted that he was suffering from a lack of motivation, in a rather candid admission.
“But last year I found some emptiness for the first time in my life in terms of motivation. I needed a few months to think about things and get that mojo back on the court,” ATP quoted him as saying.

“I felt that the start of the season went really well for me this year, winning in Doha. I unfortunately lost in Australia, but mentally I felt better and better as time went by. My game just hasn’t been there. I’m happy I reached the semi-finals in Madrid, which has been my best result this year. It shows me I’m on the right path,” he added.

Djokovic lost to Rafael Nadal at Madrid, as the Spaniard snapped a seven-match losing streak against him with a commanding 6-2, 6-4 win. But as he pointed out, the semi-final at the tournament he had won last year has been his best result this year.

“It wasn’t a very high quality of tennis from my side. I made a lot of unforced errors,” he had said after his loss.

The Serb got philospohical as he discussed his slump in detail. “As athletes, we are all humans and we all need emotional stability. You may behave like a machine because you are always doing the same things every single day. You are experiencing all these emotions on the court. We all have to deal with it in some ways. When you experience a drop in life or professional sports, you have an opportunity to have a rebirth of something new and something better,” Djokovic said.

At Madrid, Djokovic was playing his first tournament since parting ways with his team – a move he described as “shock therapy.” He ended his professional relationship with coach Marian Vajda. fitness trainer Gebhard Phil Gritsch and physio Miljan Amanovic, after a decade together. But he insists it was a necessary move.

“I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved, but it’s time to move on. The decision to split with my team was a big one and I needed that change for my mindset. There have not been many players who have been with their tennis coach, fitness coach and physiotherapist for 10 years. The overall goals, dreams and aspirations are of course still the same,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Djokovic is confident he will be able to turn things around soon. “Having all these experiences give me confidence that I’ve done it before and can do it again. I have the trust and belief in my abilities. It’s just a matter of getting all these things together,” he said.