Novak Djokovic sends warning to rivals after tough Roland Garros draw, says “last year was toughest of slam I won”
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Novak Djokovic
After a few days of intense practise in Belgrade, Novak Djokovic came to Roland Garros to defend his title. Following his sixth Rome Masters championship last week, the World No. 1 was seen practising in Belgrade with compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic. Djokovic has landed in Paris, where he will attempt to become the first player not named Rafael Nadal to successfully defend his championship in more than two decades. The Roland-Garros draws for men and women were just released, and Novak Djokovic appeared to voice his feelings after receiving a rather difficult draw.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion said, “Every day, I feel inspired to play my best tennis here. In the past, it happened, including the indoor Masters 1000. Last year was maybe the toughest of the Slams I won. Musetti, Berrettini, Rafa, Tsitsipas: every match lasted more than three hours, a lot of sets.”
The Serb went on to say that even though the sets were kind of exhausting for him, he loved the outcome. He also added that the energy from the crowd is one of the reasons that motivate him to continue playing the game. “It was exhausting but I loved the outcome. Amazing to see the public already there for the training and the qualifications. You can feel they missed tennis. At this stage in my career, the energy from the crowd is one of the reasons for which I continue.”
Novak Djokovic is the favourite to win the French Open 2022
The world number one is favoured to win his third Roland-Garros title and tie Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam titles in his career with 21. Novak Djokovic has progressively warmed into the season after missing the Australian Open in January due to vaccination difficulties, improving with each tournament he has played. Before the Serbia Open, the 34-year-old had losses against Jiri Vesely (Dubai QF) and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Monte Carlo R32), but his season turned around in the final against Andrey Rublev.
Djokovic reached the semi-finals of the Madrid Open earlier this month but was knocked out by on-fire teen Carlos Alcaraz, but his best form came in the recent Italian Open. In Rome, the Serbian won without dropping a set, defeating Aslan Karatsev, Stan Wawrinka, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Djokovic’s thorough dismissal of such high-quality opponents demonstrates that he is well prepared to challenge for the French Open title, a tournament in which he has reached the final six times.
Also Read: ‘Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz’ Casper Ruud makes his pick for the top guy at the Roland-Garros
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)