Former world No. 1 Justine Henin says Novak Djokovic is a great champion but still a human being and acknowledges some of the things he has gone through over the last two years have been mentally challenging and difficult.Ā
“We can’t underestimate the emotional roller-coaster he [Djokovic] has been on,” Henin told Eurosport France’s ‘DiP Impact’ podcast, as quoted on Sportskeeda. “Not just the Australian Open and not just all the effort he made to try and win his 21st Grand Slam at the 2021 US Open either. But you can also go back to the US Open in 2020 when he was disqualified. From there, he then had the tough [final] defeat [to Rafa Nadal] at Roland Garros. Then he had the abdominal injury and his somewhat miraculous win at the Australian Open in 2021.”
Henin: Djokovic deserves some understandingĀ
“You’ve got to imagine what all that must have been like. Even if your name is Novak Djokovic, you’re still a human being,” Henin said. “He can’t have gone through all that calmly.”
One of the things Djokovic prides himself is his exceptional mental strength.Ā
Many things are impressive about Djokovic but many believe his mental strength has been one of the main reasons for his enormous success.Ā
“I’m not saying all this is going to have an impact on the rest of his career, but he’s got to digest and recover from all of that,” Henin added. “And these are factors that have got to be taken into account when we talk about him now.”
This week, Djokovic played just his second tournament of the season.Ā
On Tuesday, Djokovic suffered a shock loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his Monte Carlo opener.Ā
Henin believes Djokovic will bounce back and eventually return to his best.Ā
“But I think he’s going to recover and we’ll once again sooner or later see the Djokovic of old, so I’m not too worried at this stage,” Henin said.