Coming to Geneva to reassure himself, Novak Djokovic leaves Switzerland with as many doubts as ever, after his defeat on Friday against the Czech Tomas Machac (44e) 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 in the semi-final of the ATP 250 tournament on clay.
This new poor performance from the world No. 1, lacking results since the start of the year, fuels concerns about the Serb’s precarious state of form in the run-up to Roland-Garros, which begins Sunday and of which he is the title holder.
Djokovic still does not have the slightest final to get his teeth into in 2024. This has not happened to the world No. 1, a shadow of himself for a month, at this time of the year since 2018 .
Down on his first ball, Djokovic immediately had great difficulty holding his serve against the young 23-year-old Czech, after a first game which lasted 11 minutes.
Better raiser than server, the world No. 1 nevertheless managed to make the first break at 2-1, to confirm it and escape 4-1.
But while we seemed to have found the best Djokovic, not giving up anything in the exchange and capable of brilliant shots, his game suddenly went haywire.
On alternating current
At 4-2, the Serb made several unforced errors, dropped his serve and let Machac recover 4-4. In the process, the Czech took the Serb’s service again, to take the first set a little further 6-4 in 58 minutes.
Djokovic, sometimes seeming strangely absent and helpless, then called on the trainer.
Not seeming to be at his best in attacking the second set, he nevertheless made the entry break, then a double break.
Playing intermittently, capable of totally relaxed magic shots but also guilty of big unforced errors, “Djokovic” won a completely disjointed second set in half an hour (6-0), especially taking advantage of Machac’s huge blunders.
New scenario at the start of the last round: watering the tarpaulins a little less, Machac then made his opponent play a little more.
Pushed into error several times by a more explosive player, the world No. 1 experienced a new gap, gave up his serve twice in a row, only to let the Czech break away inexorably and race towards victory in 2 h 06 min game.
Machac won the right to play at the age of 23 in the first final of his career on the circuit, against the Norwegian Casper Ruud (7e world) or the Italian Flavio Cobolli (56e).