Novak Djokovic begins his pursuit of a record-breaking twenty fifth Grand Slam title on the French Open, aiming to defy age and finish an almost 10-month drought with out an ATP match win.
The 38-year-old, who hasn’t reached his peak kind since capturing Olympic gold in Paris by defeating Carlos Alcaraz final 12 months, arrives at Roland Garros recent off a training cut up with former rival Andy Murray.
“I know what it takes to be a Grand Slam champion,” Djokovic mentioned forward of this week’s warm-up occasion in Geneva.
“It’s not as smooth and easy for me as it was 10 years ago. Obviously, things change and my life has changed a lot, but for the better, to be honest.”
The Serbian has proven at numerous factors this 12 months that the outdated magic has not fully light, with highlights together with his Australian Open quarterfinal victory over Alcaraz and a run to the Miami Masters closing.
But a loss in that match to teenager Jakub Mensik was adopted by back-to-back first-round exits on the Monte Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open towards Alejandro Tabilo and Matteo Arnaldi, respectively.
Djokovic has uncharacteristically misplaced six occasions already this 12 months to gamers ranked exterior the world’s high 30.
“Trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament,” Djokovic admitted after his loss to Arnaldi in Madrid.
“It’s a very totally different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years {of professional} tennis.
“It’s a challenge for me mentally to really face these kinds of sensations on the court, going out early now regularly in tournaments.”
Djokovic, the final energetic member of the “big three” after the retirements of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, has been ranked exterior the world’s high three since final September.
The former No. 1 equaled Margaret Court’s all-time file of 24 Grand Slam singles titles on the 2023 U.S. Open.
However, he has had 5 makes an attempt at setting an outright file since with out success, together with his closest effort a Wimbledon closing defeat by Alcaraz final 12 months.
Injuries have additionally taken their toll, with Djokovic withdrawing from the 2024 French Open forward of the quarterfinals and retiring from his semifinal towards Alexander Zverev in Melbourne 4 months in the past.
Djokovic opted to not play on the Italian Open, which Alcaraz received on Sunday, and is as a substitute warming up for Roland Garros at a low-key occasion in Geneva.
‘Competing bit more challenging’
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz are the 2 French Open favorites, however Djokovic nonetheless fancies his probabilities of a deep run.
The three-time champion might have misplaced each his clay-court matches up to now this 12 months, however he received the final massive match lacking from his resume on the Paris Olympics.
“Every time I step on the court, I feel the nerves, I feel stress, I feel everything that I guess all the other players feel, and excitement as well,” he mentioned final month.
“Competing became a bit more challenging for me, to be honest. But of course, I’ll do my best for the future.”
It has been touted as essentially the most open Roland Garros males’s attract a long time, given Djokovic’s kind and the absence of the retired Nadal, however Djokovic has typically bounced again emphatically when counted out prior to now.
The final time his future was critically questioned was after a shock 2018 French Open quarterfinal loss to Marco Cecchinato when hampered by an elbow damage, which noticed him drop out of the world’s high 20.
Back then, Djokovic responded by profitable Wimbledon a month later and was world No. 1 by 12 months’s finish.
He will probably be hoping the subsequent turnaround in kind throughout his illustrious profession begins in Paris over the approaching weeks.
“I feel that I still have the game, that I can be one of the contenders for the top Grand Slam titles,” Djokovic mentioned.
Source: www.dailysabah.com