Javier Sanchez

Updated Tuesday, March 12, 2024-1:40 p.m.

Something broke in

Novak Djokovic

last January in Melbourne.

Against

Jannik Sinner

, in the semifinals of the Australian Open, he fell bereft of his tennis and his character, indolent and docile, and found no explanation for what happened.

What would be the blow that the day after he gave up the ATP 500 in Dubai to recover.

But it does not work.

Apparently these days at the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells he still hasn't achieved it.

The number one in the world ranking suffered disappointment again and in the subsequent press conference he accepted the debate: Is he in crisis?

The defeat in the third round by 4-6, 6-3 and 3-6 was the least of it despite the fact that his rival, the Italian

Luca Nardi

, is number 123 in the world.

The worst were the sensations.

"I am surprised by my current level of play, it is really bad. I have to analyze well what happened in the match. I made some terrible unforced errors and I played very defensively. I have no excuses, I should have done much better and that's it. It was a very poor match on my part," acknowledged the Serbian, who had not registered for the next tournament, the Miami Masters 1000, but who will possibly sign up at the last minute to change the dynamic.

Although the season has just started, one piece of information demonstrates Djokovic's bad moment: at this point he had always won a title except in 2006, 2018 and 2022. In 2006 he was a teenager, in 2018 he was coming back from an elbow injury and in 2022 he could barely play because he had not been vaccinated against covid.

The rest of the courses either he had already won the Australian Open -10 times- or he had celebrated at the ATP 250 in Doha, the ATP 500 in Dubai or the Indian Wells tournament itself.

"I am not used to this situation because in most seasons of my career I have won a title early, but it is part of the sport. I just have to accept it and move on. I guess the next trophy I get will be great because it will mean that I have recovered my level," Djokovic commented that, yes, he will maintain number one no matter what happens.

Last year he did not play in the United States so he did not defend points on this tour and will arrive on clay at the top of the list.

If he does not improve, yes, before Roland Garros he could lose the crown to the push of

Carlos Alcaraz

and, above all, Jannik Sinner.