"The drive doesn't look like what it was before" - Patrick Mouratoglou believes Novak Djokovic has lost his motivation

After dominating the ATP tour for the past decade, Novak Djokovic is approaching the tail end of his career. The Serbian superstar has not won a Grand Slam title in over two years, leading French coach Patrick Mouratoglou to speculate that Djokovic has lost his will to win.

The 38-year old lifted his last major trophy at the 2023 US Open, defeating Russian Daniil Medvedev in the final. Djokovic has since struggled to overcome the rise of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, with both men having a stranglehold on Grand Slam titles over the last two years.

Despite being one of the oldest players on tour, Djokovic is still a threat at every tournament. Although the 24-time Grand Slam champion often gets past the rest of the field, he tends to fall short when facing Sinner or Alcaraz.

After seeing two of his biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, hang up their rackets, Djokovic may have lost the will to produce his best tennis, according to Mouratoglou. The renown coach elaborated on the matter in a video posted to his Instagram account.

Outside of winning the elusive gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and prevailing at the Geneva Open, Djokovic has not won any title since the start of the 2024 season. Mouratoglou acknowledged Djokovic's greatness and achievements, but stated the former World No.1 may have lost his winning edge.

"He (Djokovic) achieved everything," said Mouratoglou. "So I feel that something broke the motivation, the drive that made him as the greatest of all time. He's not here anymore. How long is he going to stay in that position? I don't think long.
"I think he still likes to be there because I think he probably wants to find a great connection with the fans, which he starts to have. It was difficult while Rafa and Roger were at the top, because they had such a strong connection that it was depriving him from having that position and that connection.
"Definitely the drive doesn't look like what it was before. It's a different drive, but it's not a drive that brings the results that he could have before, and it makes sense, and I understand, but he's not producing the results he used to have."

After a heartbreaking loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals at the 2025 US Open, Djokovic's next appearance on tour will be at the upcoming Shanghai Masters tournament.