Novak Djokovic comes under fire as there’s ‘something wrong’ with Serb

Novak Djokovic lost his opening match at the Monte-Carlo Masters this week.

Novak Djokovic suffered a shock early exit in Monte-Carlo (Image: Getty)

Novak Djokovic has copped some heat following his shock opening-round exit at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The world No. 5 suffered a one-sided defeat to Alejandro Tabilo on Wednesday and later slammed his performance in a terse, 141-word press conference.

Former world No. 10 Arnaud Clement has now called out Djokovic’s “attitude”, claiming there was “something wrong” with the 24-time Grand Slam champion in Monte-Carlo. It comes after Djokovic claimed he didn’t expect to play so badly.

Djokovic made it no secret that he didn’t have high expectations at this week’s Monte-Carlo Masters. The Serb had a quick turnaround after losing in the final of the Miami Open, playing his first match on the clay just 10 days later.

But the two-time former champion in Monaco looked a shell of his usual self when he came out to face Tabilo on Wednesday, struggling to get fired up as the Chilean handed him a 6-3 6-4 defeat.

Afterwards, Djokovic said it was a “horrible feeling to play this way”.

He added: “I knew I’m gonna have a tough opponent and I knew I’m gonna probably play pretty bad. But this bad, I didn’t expect.”

Novak Djokovic said he didn’t expect to play so badly in Monte-Carlo (Image: Getty)

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But retired French tennis star Clement wasn’t happy with what he heard and saw from Djokovic, and he believes something could be going on.

“The shock, ultimately, is more the manner and the attitude than the loss itself,” he told Eurosport France.

“It’s true that we didn’t feel he was happy on the court, we didn’t feel he was fulfilled. Did he want to? We don’t know. Did he have a problem? We don’t know. But there was certainly something wrong with Novak Djokovic today.

“And it wasn’t simply the fact that his tennis wasn’t in place. He didn’t give the impression, as can often be the case with him when things aren’t going well, of finding solutions and resources.”

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He raised more concerns ahead of Wednesday’s match when he was spotted grabbing his arm during a practice session, with a member of his team coming over to massage it.

But, after crashing out of the tournament, Djokovic said: “It’s all good. Just a minor, minor thing. There’s no injury.”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion still has his sights set on the French Open, admitting it was his only target during the clay swing. Djokovic is expected to return to action in Madrid at the end of the month.