Tennis legend Boris Becker believes the absence of main rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the ATP circuit has contributed to the regression of Novak Djokovic's form this season.
Becker thinks competing without Nadal and Federer on the tour had a great impact on Djokovic, especially with the way he motivates himself.
While current world's no.1 Andy Murray has always been a tough opponent on any surface, knowing the fact that he's always the fourth guy in the Fabled Big 4 doesn't help in motivating a suddenly lackadaisical Djokovic.
"He doesn't have opponents anymore," Becker told CNN earlier this week (H/T Sportskeeda). "His time was with Rafa, with Roger, Andy was always the fourth guy," he said. "So he lost a bit of his opponents."
After bagging the Australian and French Open titles, Djokovic stumbled out as early as the third round at Wimbledon and got booted out in the first round in men's singles competition at the Rio Olympics.
He managed to go all the way to the final round of the US Open championship but again came out short against Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6(7-1), 4-6, 5-7, 3-6. At the ATP World Tour Finals, Djokovic breezed through the preliminary and semifinal stages before succumbing to a motivated Murray in the finals 3-6, 4-6.
In previous interviews, Djokovic hasn't denied the fact Nadal and Federer helped him reach his full potential. The Serb has been the most dominant player in the ATP Tour over the last four to five years, so seeing him struggling causes concern within his camp.
However, Becker believes the former world's no.1 will have a bounce-back campaign next year. He's confident Djokovic still has the tools to become a dominant player in the tour, despite the emergence of Murray and other up=and-coming netters.
"Novak is a competitor at heart. If I have to have one guy who has to play for my life, I would pick Novak. That's how much I trust him," Becker stressed. "As much as this loss is going to hurt him, it's probably going to motivate him to be re-energized for next year. Maybe it was a good thing in the end."
