“Can’t Win Every Week”: Andy Murray Urges Fans to Cut Novak Djokovic Some Slack Over His Recent Form

Former World No.1 Andy Murray joined a Twitch session with French star Gael Monfils and addressed issues that might be bothering Novak Djokovic at the moment. The former Wimbledon champion put forth that Djokovic is in dire need of a break from all the pressure he’s facing at the moment. 

The Serbian looked invincible from the start through midway 2020. But a few rough patches here and there hurt his image. The US Open debacle, Roland Garros loss, Vienna upset and the most latest ATP Finals defeat all adds to the 33-year-old’s year-end misery.

These piling defeats makes one wonder many things. Is Djokovic unable to withstand the pressure of having to uphold his status as the #1 player in the world? 

Murray iterated the importance of shot selection in the sport and how he consciously felt the same on the court even though he wasn’t mentally locked in during a match. 

“That’s the thing that Novak over his whole career but especially the last five, six years – he’s been better than anyone at that. Very rarely chooses the wrong option or wrong shot. Making the wrong choices – that’s not something you’d associate with him,” the Brit said. 

But the past few weeks have been different. There has been a visible struggle in Nole’s game and one could easily figure it out. Murray had a say on what the Serbian has been doing a bit different lately. 

“This week and maybe through the French Open a bit, for me, as well, in the final it felt like he was trying to shorten the points quite a lot and then the same this week,” he mentioned. 

Novak Djokovic is after all a mere mortal 

Murray cited Djokovic’s loss to Thiem at ATP Finals as an instance where he rushed to end rallies. He played a great match against the Austrian and came back from a set down but eventually faced defeat. 

“But still, he put himself in a position to win the match against someone who’s playing unbelievably well,” Murray added about Djokovic’s recent loss. That is the whole scenario here. 

No matter how good Djokovic plays, if he ends up losing there’s a lot of criticism thrown at him. He’s amassed a lot and toiled hard to reach where he is now. The man built his fortress over years of winning, but people expect him to maintain the standard throughout. 

“Sometimes with those guys we need to give them a bit of a break,” Murray said. You can’t win every week, you can’t play your best every week and mentally you can’t always be perfect so yeah, it’s been another good year for him but maybe he didn’t finish it as well as he liked.” 

That’s the answer right there. Fans need to cut him some slack and react to these defeats in a normal manner. At the end of the day, Novak Djokovic is a human and not a robot. His rigorous training routines help him to stay in shape but not mistake-free! 

Andy Murray also mentioned that it is the high expectations of the fans that later sink into disappointments. Djokovic was the favorite to win the ATP Finals, but he crashed out in the semis and that’s acceptable. He’s an athlete and his regime is to train hard and get better for the next one!