Jerzy Janowicz has flown completely under the radar these past few months, which is a little surprising. Usually a top-20 player losing nine straight matches is a newsworthy item.

Near the start of this slump came a match that got little attention. In a Davis Cup Group I tie, Janowicz lost a live rubber to Borna Coric. Granted, Coric is definitely a potential future star. He is a young player who has already made his way into the top 300 and could become a household name in a few years. That being said, Janowicz should not have lost to a 17-year-old opponent. Anyone who watched the match saw that the situation got to Jerzy and that he played quite poorly by his standards. Janowicz could not control his emotions ,and it did not end well for him.

In the end, that is what defines Janowicz. The tennis world fell in love with him when they saw him crying over his successes at the Paris Masters 1000 tournament in 2012 and Wimbledon last year. He spoke to our hearts and allowed us to see him with his heart on his sleeve. He let his emotions rule in a mentally-dictated sport.

Playing with such fire is a double-edged sword, though. Janowicz often has outbursts on court. The fine line between harnessed aggression and racket-smashing rage is one that is difficult for anyone to tread. When Jerzy walks it perfectly, the tennis is incredible to behold. And when he doesn’t, we see what we’ve seen from him these past few months.

Janowicz has always been an enigma because of this trait. His talent was obvious even back in his Challenger days, when his huge shot-making abilities were dominant—when he managed to stay under control. On the converse, there were times when his strings of errors were poor, to say the least.

As he has developed, Janowicz has stayed the same. While mercurial is not the right word to describe his attitude on court, it can describe his level of play. The consistency is not there for whole matches, let alone stringing it together for an entire tournament. The incredible shots are still there. He is never playing consistently poor tennis. But he is not playing enough great tennis to win matches at the top level.

Indeed, how he even reached the top 20 should show us that Janowicz lacks consistency. His overall record in 2013 (not including lower-level Davis Cup matches) was 23-20. He reached exactly one semifinal all year. His highest ranking, of world No. 14, was basically built off just two tournaments—600 points for a runner-up finish in Bercy 2012 and 720 for his Wimbledon semifinal. He will lose 170 points for not defending his Rome quarterfinal this week. And, if he cannot back up his Wimbledon results in a few months, or pick up big points at Roland Garros, he could fall out of the top 50.

So where does this leave Jerzy Janowicz? He is not in your standard slump. He is losing more often than he did last year, but he is not doing it by playing surprisingly poor tennis. He is just being himself. And, for Jerzy Janowicz, being himself means that he can beat any player in the world on any given day. Unfortunately for him, it can also mean some startling losses. He plays with his heart on his sleeve. On some days, that serves him very well. On others, it means he cannot control his massive groundstrokes.

Janowicz’s ranking is dropping, but that really doesn’t tell us anything about his future prospects. It would not be surprising if he made a very deep run in Roland Garros or Wimbledon and pulled off a few big upsets along the way. He can certainly do that when his shots stay in the court. But, and certainly after the past few months, a first-round loss to a journeyman would not be surprising either.