Former Australian Open finalist John Lloyd said that Boris Becker, Novak Djokovic’s coach, has made a huge difference for the Serb.
That difference is "mentally, he doesn't think he can be beaten,” Lloyd told the BBC.
The world No. 1 has won four of the last five Grand Slams, and has 11 major titles overall. At the Australian Open, after needing five sets in the fourth round to get past Gilles Simon, he won three fairly routine matches against Kei Nishikori (three sets), Roger Federer (four sets), and Andy Murray (three sets).
Djokovic brought in Becker—a former No. 1—at the end of 2013, and said it took some time to get used to working with the German Grand Slam champion. In 2014, he lost to Stan Wawrinka in the Australian Open quarterfinals and to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. He beat Federer to win Wimbledon, but fell to Nishikori in the semis in New York.
2015 was a different story. The 28-year-old won three Grand Slams, with his only loss at a major to Wawrinka in the Roland Garros final.
"To say Boris is confident in himself is an understatement, and I mean that in a positive way," said Lloyd. "The night before a match they all have doubts, all the greats, just a tiny little bit. But when you have someone like Boris there, it makes a huge difference."
Britain's Lloyd, who used to be a Davis Cup captain, acknowledged that Federer is really struggling against Djokovic these days. Head to head, Djokovic is now 23-22 versus Federer, and he’s beaten the Swiss the last four times they have faced off in Grand Slams.
“Federer hasn't beaten him for a while in a best of five,” Lloyd said. “Federer knows it. Novak knows it. With Federer you can never tell facially, but I can guarantee there's doubt."