Tennis can be such a cruel sport.  No matter how much a player has accomplished, even when at the top of the game, the second the results begin to fall short of perfection, there is an immediate talk of a downward spiral.  That is the tragedy of a sport that is all about what a player has done lately.  It is a lesson both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have learned, and it is one of which Novak Djokovic is quickly becoming familiar.  The Serb has hardly been at his best the back half of 2016 and now finds himself under further scrutiny as he looks to try and finish his season on a high note.

Through the first half of this year, Djokovic looked destined to have yet another dominant season.  Outside of a few blips on the clay, he was money at most any event he entered.  In addition to winning the Masters events at both Indian Wells and Miami, he also reigned victorious in Melbourne and Paris, the latter of which resulted in an increase of chatter pertaining the possibility of a calendar-year Grand Slam.

But then Wimbledon rolled around, and the unthinkable happened.  Djokovic, the defending champion, was bounced in the third round by Sam Querrey.  And although his title run in Canada and trip to the final of the US Open made for a great summer by most players' standards, his opening loss to Juan Martin del Potro at the Rio Olympics and absence in Cincinnati were disappointments as far as he was concerned.  This autumn, he was unable to compete in Beijing and suffered a surprising defeat in the semifinals of Shanghai and now at the Paris Masters quarterfinals.  The jury is still out as to how he will perform at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Further adding to Djokovic's woes is the increased scrutiny he has faced from the media and suspicions as to what may be going on behind that scenes that could be impacting his play on the court.  He understandably did not go into details but cited personal issues as a distraction while at Wimbledon.  A niggling elbow injury hampered his efforts in Rio and was the main culprit in his decision to skip Cincinnati and Beijing.  He presently finds himself having to defend his team, with pundits and fans questioning the absence of Boris Becker and Marian Vajda from his box this week and the presence of Pepe Imaz, a man some are trying to term a “guru”, there instead.  Despite his words to the contrary, it has led many to wonder if there is not already or soon to be a shakeup in the Serb's team that could also be contributing to his troubles on the court.

These factors have begged the question as to whether Djokovic is truly a player in crisis or are the whispers about his potential downfall premature.  While the crisis scenario makes for a juicier headline, the latter is the more likely reality.  He looked nearly untouchable the front half of 2016, and there is no reason to believe he cannot achieve that level again.  It is perfectly feasible, as he admitted, that he would lose some motivation after getting the monkey off his back with his win at Roland Garros, in the process becoming the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four majors simultaneously.  And it should be remembered that he is human and not a robot who is always going to be there one-hundred percent mentally and physically match in and match out.  Furthermore, he is aware of what he has achieved in the past and knows he can replicate that kind of success in the future.

In short, there is no reason for Djokovic or his fans to panic regarding how he will perform as he closes out 2016 or what he will do come 2017.  Federer and Nadal have repeatedly proven the naysayers wrong, and Djokovic is equally capable of doing the same.  Plus, there is still no telling how he will perform in London.  A strong showing there – especially if it ends in a title – will have everyone forgetting his struggles leading up to the ATP World Tour Finals.  After all, that is also the beauty of tennis being a sport that is all about what a player has done lately.