No one at this level is playing tournaments without massive preparation. This is especially true at the WCC where both sides have not just one but teams of seconds to help with prep.
Ding has been a shadow of himself ever since he won the world championship and if anything has been seen as the weakest world champion since 2006.
“The winner of a game of chess is he who makes the last mistake but one.” - Probably Lasker but people often attribute this quote to Tartekower[1]
Ding won the WCC due to a terrible blunder by Nepomniachi. Good as he was Fischer blundered his bishop like a patzer during his WCC match against Spassky and came back to win the match. Chess games between humans are generally decided by somebody making a mistake. Is that luck?
Of course not. To put himself in a position to benefit from that luck he had to play extremely well for the entire match so that it would be even going into the last game.
Ding has been a shadow of himself ever since he won the world championship and if anything has been seen as the weakest world champion since 2006.