What happened, Novak?

Novak, the crowd-pleaser, never fires anyone. He cares too much about being the good guy, the benevolent patron — that’s a persona that matters to him. When he wants to be rid of an employee, what happens is that they “part ways,” by “mutual agreement,” and the employee releases a glowing statement about what a privilege it was to work with Djokovic.

In May he parted ways, by mutual agreement, with his entire coaching staff.

What‘s wrong, Novak?

What was most bizarre, throughout this phase of decline, was how little anyone seemed able to explain it. Novak himself was tongue-tied. “It was nothing physical,” he said in August, in the clearest explanation he ever offered for his wipeout. “It was some other things that I was going through privately.”

Oh, of course: some private … things. The tennis media is almost ritually circumspect. Tabloids have speculated furiously about the state of Djokovic’s marriage. Message-board posters have built elaborate theories on Jelena Djokovic’s air of wounded dignity in the player’s box. John McEnroe caused a minor dust up last week when he compared Djokovic’s downfall to that of Tiger Woods. But for the most part, the closer you get to the game itself, the more pundits have framed Djokovic’s nose-dive in terms that are careful and vague and respectful.

The vagueness may be appropriate. Djokovic’s marriage, if that was really the issue, is none of my business. (Which doesn’t mean I don’t find it fascinating.) It was disorienting, though, to see a great player’s decline take place inside this void of abashed euphemism.

Djokovic’s collapse helped both Federer and Nadal win majors. It made Murray the No. 1 player in the world. Yet when we try to explain it, it’s a weird blur, an afterimage of gossip. It’s left Djokovic’s identity even less clear — the rare instance when adversity seems to leave us knowing less, not more, about a player.

I learned a lot, along the way, about the steps Djokovic was taking to reverse course. At one point he hired a guru specializing in long hugs; a kind of New Age questiness is another one of his personas. I didn’t learn much at all about what was wrong, or how it felt.