Novak Djokovic: Recent Losses Won't Slow the Djoker Down Long-Term

Novak Djokovic has taken a detour from his winning ways recently, but he's not going to stay down for long.

He lost his No. 1 world ranking to Roger Federer after he lost to Fed in the men's semifinals at Wimbledon, while Fed went on to win the men's final. This came after Djokovic's losses to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, Madrid and Monte Carlo and his loss to John Isner at Indian Wells.

So, what happened?

For a while there, Djokovic couldn't be stopped. He won three majors in a row, and then, poof—human, once again.

It's important to remember that Djokovic lost his grandfather in April. He has taken that personal loss hard lately, and it's affected his game. He admitted he was too emotionally drained (via The Telegraph) to compete against Nadal at Monte Carlo, right after he lost his grandfather, and it seems clear that he's still recovering.

Craig O’Shannessy of The New York Times made this observation about Djokovic during his semifinal match against Federer this past week at Wimbledon:

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Federer was the better player for most of their first grass-court encounter as Djokovic seemed to lack his usual mojo and positive body language that made him the most dominant player in the game for almost two years.

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Djokovic was extremely close to his late grandfather, according to a CNN.com report. As a young man, it can be difficult to get past emotional challenges like this. It will take time for the wounds to heal, but heal they will. 

Once Djokovic starts to regain his emotional stability, he'll be back to his old tricks. This stretch of less-than-perfect tennis will be remembered as little more than a hiccup in the grand scope of his career.

Djokovic is simply too talented, too driven and too young to go away. He'll come back with a vengeance to reclaim his No. 1 world ranking and dominate the world of men's tennis once again.

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