Novak Djokovic’s decision to pull out of next week’s Rome Masters appeared to suggest he was happy to go into the French Open with just two clay court defeats on his record for this season, but he has a chance to put that right.
Djokovic’s defeat against Alejandro Tabilo in Monte Carlo and his loss against Matteo Arnaldi in his first match at the Madrid Open set alarm bells ringing louder than ever as a player who will toast his 38th birthday this month admitted he may be running out of time to win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title.
“Kind of new reality for me, I have to say,” said Djokovic after the defeat against Arnaldi.
“You know, trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament. It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis, so it’s kind of a challenge for me mentally to really face this kind of sensation on the court, going out early now regularly in the tournaments.
“I guess, the circle of life and the career (smiling), eventually it was going to happen. Now I’m trying to, you know, use this as a driving force for the future. Obviously, Grand Slams, I was saying many times, are the most important tournaments for me.
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“Which doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win here, of course I wanted to, but Grand Slams are where I really want to play the best tennis. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that in Roland Garros, but I’ll do my best.”
Djokovic may have been wise to step away from the game for a few weeks, with his motivation to play in regular ATP Tour events waning for some time now.
Yet he faced a similar scenario last year and came up with an unexpected solution.
While his performances in Monte Carlo and Madrid were not quite as poor as they were this year, Djokovic felt the need to get more matches on clay under his belt before heading to Roland Garros and opted to enter the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva.
The three matches he played in that event in Switzerland gave him some momentum heading into the second Grand Slam of the year and he got through to the quarter-finals in Paris before being forced to pull out with an injury.
Djokovic could follow a similar path this year and he could also enter the ATP 500 event in Hamburg in the same week when the Geneva tournament is being played.
World No 1 Jannik Sinner has entered Hamburg as he looks to build up match practice following his three-month drug ban, with the prospect of Djokovic not playing any more matches ahead of Roland Garros a gamble he should avoid taking.
“Pressure is part of the sport and part of what we do on this highest level, so it’s never going to go away, it’s just a different kind of pressure now,” he added in his final comments before he left Madrid.
“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. So, still like to compete, it became a bit more challenging for me, to be honest.
“Of course, I’ll do my best for the future. Grand Slam, I’m not going into Roland Garros as one of the main favourites. Maybe that can help, I don’t know, we’ll see.”
Taylor Fritz has also confirmed he will play in Hamburg so Djokovic could face strong opposition if he decides to play one more clay court event before his assault on another Roland Garros title.
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