After a Grand Slam defeat, Djokovic (almost) always bounces back

The Serbian is in Indian Wells this week for his first tournament since the Australian Open and will be one of the big favourites as always

Jérémy Baudu

March 4, 2024

The tennis world has not seen Novak Djokovic on a tennis court since January 26, 2024, when he left the Australian Open in the semi-finals, beaten by Jannik Sinner. A thunderbolt in Melbourne for the man who hadn’t lost on this court since 2018!

The world No 1 took some time off to rest after this setback in Australia. He is now ready to bounce back at Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 of the season. Fans of Djokovic can rest assured that crisis is far from being the order of the day.

Indeed, when the Serb loses a Grand Slam, he is generally the type of player who doesn’t let it get him down, and likes to set the record straight at the very next tournament. After his defeat at Wimbledon last year, Djokovic went on a 19-match winning streak on Tour, with victories at the US Open, Cincinnati and Bercy.

Djokovic out for revenge in Indian Wells

It was the same story when the Serb exited the French Open in the quarter-finals in 2022, having been beaten by Rafael Nadal in four sets. The Serb returned to the ATP circuit a few weeks later to win Wimbledon, Tel Aviv and Astana before reaching the final of the Rolex Paris Masters.

As the saying goes, “beware the wounded beast”. The last time Djokovic failed to bounce back from a Grand Slam defeat was after losing the French Open final in 2020 – a completely different era.

In Indian Wells, the world No 1 one is thirsty for revenge and wants to show Sinner, Alcaraz and company that he is still the boss of the circuit. The only cause for concern is that he hasn’t triumphed in California since 2016, and he hasn’t even played in the tournament since 2019. So he’s in dire need of a reference point.

His last match at Indian Wells was a third-round defeat in 2019 to Philipp Kohlschreiber (6-4, 6-4). Nonetheless, many, starting with Californian tournament director Tommy Haas, see him as the favourite.

Novak Djokovic, Indian Wells 2019 – © Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic

It’s clear that he will always be the favourite
Tommy Haas

“Djokovic had so much success in Australia. I have the impression that every time he doesn’t win a tournament, we all consider it a failure, don’t we? And I hate using that word,” said Haas in an interview with Eurosport.

“But even the Australian Open semi-final, we all consider it a semi-final loss, which means he didn’t win the Australian Open. But you know how many players would love to reach a semi-final at least once? Obviously he’ll always be the favourite and he’ll always consider himself the favourite to win the title.”

Djokovic has now won ten Masters 1000 matches in a row, following successes in Paris and Cincinnati last year. The last man to beat him in this category of tournament was Holger Rune, on clay in Rome.

In the Californian desert, the world No 1 will be looking to get back on track. Any result other than a victory could plunge him into doubt after his elimination in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Even so, we’ve known for a long time that you should never bury a champion of his calibre – quite the opposite, in fact.