Novak Djokovic's desire to be 'the king' is his biggest motivation in Big 3 rivalry: Serena Williams' ex-coach

Novak Djokovic's inner motivation is to dominate the opposition and "be the king," according to top tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou. As per Mouratoglou, who has previously coached Serena Williams, the Serbian tennis great always plays with the intention of having something to prove, which has played a big role in his success.

Mouratoglou feels that an important aspect of the Big 3 rivalry between Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer has been their distinct yet strong inner motivations to win. When it comes to Djokovic, Mouratoglou believes the Serb's urge to be a cut above everyone else on tour led to him scaling heights that most believed he would not.

"They (Big 3) have their inner motivations to win. That is the fascinating thing about their rivalry and maybe the most important," Patrick Mouratoglou said in a video on his social media channel.

"Novak wants to dominate. He wants to be above and he wants to be the king. It's in his DNA. He has something to prove, which is not a negative thing at all. It's his motivation and it led him to accomplish things that nobody thought were possible except for him," he added.

Meanwhile, the Serbian star has had a difficult start to the clay-court swing, losing in the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open in Banja Luka this week after his Round-of-16 loss at the Monte-Carlo Masters last week. He will now aim to find form in the build-up to the French Open, starting with the Madrid Masters.

"The same thing happened last year" - Novak Djokovic not too concerned with Banja Luka loss in build-up to French Open

The Serbian star competes at the 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Novak Djokovic is not too worried by his lack of form on clay so far this season, highlighting that he experienced a slow start during the clay swing last season as well, before going on to win the Italian Open and reach the quarterfinals of the French Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.

"It's no secret that you prepare and train for Roland Garros. The same thing happened last year, I had a very slow start to the tour and I started to play better towards the end of the tour," he said in a press conference after his loss to Dusan Lajovic on Friday.

He also admitted that his level of tennis on the day was well below his best and that a few struggles with fitness also hampered his performance to a large extent.

"I didn’t even feel good physically on the court, I felt slow, with sluggish legs, I missed a lot of balls, and was totally out of shot. At times I played well, but well below my level," Djokovic added.