Jimmy Connors feels Novak Djokovic shouldn’t be ‘discouraged’ due to the constant injury setbacks weeks before the French Open

Connors believes Djokovic should not be discouraged in trial times of injury.

Jimmy Connors feels Novak Djokovic shouldn’t be ‘discouraged’ due to the constant injury setbacks weeks before the French Open

Novak Djokovic (Image via Dafanews)

It’s not easy when you are Novak Djokovic. Due to his character, the statements he makes, and his principles, he is under a constant microscope from all around the world. If on one side his achievements are glorified and celebrated, on the other side his failures too are looked at critically.

Djokovic for years has been an entertainer on the court. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has achieved possibly all one can in the sport of tennis. However, the 2023 clay season has been patchy for the Serb. What’s made it worse is an unfortunate elbow injury during practice.

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The world no. 1 hasn’t been able to find his feet on clay this season. He started with a Round of 16 loss in the Monte Carlo Masters to Lorenzo Musseti and then went down to Dusan Lajovic at the Srpska Open in straight sets. More than the loss, it was the manner in which the loss came that worried his fans. In his loss to Musseti, Djokovic was a setup and let the match slip, and a 6-4, 7-6 loss to Lajovic certainly highlighted a few problems.

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Amongst all this chaos, former ATP no. 1 Jimmy Connors came out in support of the Serb. As quoted by TennisWorldUSA, he said, “I keep using the verb to discourage. If you let yourself get discouraged and break down, it becomes difficult to get rid of some situations. It is very important not to get discouraged. Novak Djokovic has lived the Tour long enough and won everything, he knows how to handle things. Let’s face it, he has won 22 Grand Slam tournaments and knows what it’s like to be in these situations.”

“He just has to be ready to face them in the best way possible. I’m not worried. He hasn’t played enough and he wants to play a lot of matches on clay. It’s not just about tennis and hitting and being under pressure, because he knows that winning breeds success,” Connors continued.

The American pro is very sure that a player of Djokovic’s caliber can certainly bounce back. All he needs is that he gets positive energy from the tennis world. After opting out of the Madrid Open because of a dicey elbow, Djokovic will be eyeing good performances at the Italian Open and an even better fortnight at the Roland Garros.

Related: Former World No.1 claims Holger Rune is more entertaining than Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic looking to capitalize on Rafael Nadal’s injury woes at French Open

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Novak Djokovic on clay (image via The Wall Street Journal)

Novak Djokovic is one of the rare all-court players in the Modern Era. He exhibits his high skills on each surface with extreme tenacity. In an era where the great Rafael Nadal has won almost everything existing in the clay court books, Djokovic has also done decently well.

World no. 1 has 18 clay court titles, including 2 French Open and 11 Masters’ series events. To top that he is the only player to defeat Nadal in all three masters events. He beat him in Madrid and Rome in 2011 and Monte Carlo in 2013. He holds an 80% win record with 259 wins under his belt on the surface. With this stat, Djokovic is one of the great players on the dirt. Having achieved so much on the clay, Djokovic would be eager to change his 2023 record as the tour moves to Rome next week.

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