Novak Djokovic Concedes Serving Struggles Are Mental

Photo Credit: Andy Kentla

(April 26, 2010) Novak Djokovic returns to Rome this week conceding his serving struggles have become head games.

"It’s not where I’ve wanted it to be over the past couple of months, as people have been able to see," Djokovic said of his serve. "There's a lot of things going on in my mind when I need to serve. But this is the crisis I guess everybody has to go through, and I'm trying to work on it mentally and technically. It's going to pay off. I know it's going to come back. I know I'm going to serve as I was. But in this moment there is a little struggle."

The second-ranked Serbian has won nine of his last 10 matches on the red clay of Rome. He beat Stanislas Wawrinka to win the 2008 title and dispatched Juan Martin del Potro and Roger Federer before bowing to Rafael Nadal in the 2009 final.

Djokovic tried shortening his service motion under co-coach Todd Martin, but lost some of the rhythm and timing on that stroke and was sending serves into the net. Since parting from Martin earlier this month and working exclusively with long-time coach Marian Vajda he has gone back to his regular service motion and believes his semifinal result in Monte Carlo two weeks ago has helped him regain his confidence and find his form.

"I’m more confident after Monte Carlo despite the loss to Verdasco in the semis," Djokovic said. "I played my first three matches there the exact way that I wanted to. The Davis Cup (in early March when he played a mammoth nine sets) took it out of me, and I lost my rhythm when I got onto the US hard courts. I like clay and I’m glad to be back here."

The second-seeded Djokovic will face Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in his opening Rome match and could square off against Barcelona champion Verdasco in the quarterfinals. Verdasco captured his second title of the season with a three-set win over Robin Soderling in Sunday's Barcelona final.