Accused of 'tanking,' Novak Djokovic considering a break after shocking French Open ouster

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic isn't ruling the possibility of taking a break from the sport after a shocking straight sets defeat to Dominic Thiem during the quarter-finals of the 2017 French Open on Wednesday. After beating Thiem on five previous occasions, Djokovic had no answer for the 23-year-old Austrian, who progressed in the tournament to set up a date with Rafael Nadal in Friday's semi-final.

When asked if he was going to take a break from tennis, Djokovic said, "Trust me, I'm thinking about many things right now. But I have responsibilities." According to another tennis correspondent, Djokovic said, "We'll see," when asked if he was considering a hiatus from the sport (see tweets below).

Did Novak Djokovic tank two sets?

On Wednesday, Djokovic suffered a bagel set (6-0) at a Grand Slam for the first time since the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open when he came back to beat Gael Monfils in five sets.

After the defeat, Djokovic was accused of "tanking" by several analysts and commentators covering the 2017 French Open. After getting destroyed 7-6, 6-3, 6-0 by Thiem, Djokovic admitted that the match was decided at the end of the tie-breaker in the first set.

"It’s hard to comment on the third set. Nothing was going my way. Just a pretty bad set. All in all, it was decided in the first set. I tried, I lost that crucial break at the beginning of the second and he started serving better. He deserved to win," Djokovic said in his post-match press conference, via The Guardian.

Is Novak Djokovic on the decline?

Last month, the 12-time Grand Slam champion parted with his entire coaching team. Djokovic, in the middle of his worst season since 2010, relinquished the World No. 1 ranking to Andy Murray last November before enduring a shocking second-round defeat at the 2017 Australian Open to Denis Istomin.

The 29-year-old reached the semi-finals of last week's Madrid Open Masters before the finals loss at Rome. Djokovic, who suffered back-to-back losses to Nick Kyrgios in Acapulco and Indian Wells, hasn't won an ATP Masters 1000 title since last July's Canada Masters (Rogers Cup).

Djokovic and American tennis great Andre Agassi recently came to terms on a temporary coaching deal that may or may not extend beyond the French Open. After Wednesday's loss, Djokovic conceded that he needed to go back to the drawing board.

"The last couple of tournaments I’ve had some great matches and it’s unfortunate to finish Roland Garros in this way," added Djokovic. "It’s a fact I’m not playing close to my best. But I’m trying. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This is a whole new situation I’m facing. Not to win a big tournament, it hasn’t happened for a couple of years. Every top player has gone through it. It’s a big challenge, but I’m up for it."

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal marched into the semi-finals of the 2017 French Open Wednesday after fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta retired midway through the second set of their quarter-finals match. Nadal will now face Thiem in Friday's semi-final.