Novak Djokovic has given himself a brutal reality check after crashing out of the Madrid Open. The Serb is now on a three-match losing streak, suffering back-to-back opening-round exits in Monte-Carlo and Madrid. Djokovic has made it no secret that his main focus is the French Open, the next Grand Slam tournament of the season.
However, after losing to Matteo Arnaldi on Saturday, the 24-time Major winner claimed he would not be one of the “favourites” at Roland Garros, despite being a three-time former champion at the Parisian clay event.
Djokovic’s expectations were low coming into the Madrid Open. The world No. 5 had not played the tournament in three years, and this was just his second appearance since 2019.
However, his outing still went worse than planned. “I was hoping I can play one more match than I played in Monte-Carlo,” the three-time former champion in Madrid said.
“Kind of new reality for me, I have to say. 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 these kind of sensations on the court, going out early now regularly in the tournaments.
“But, you know, that’s, I guess, the circle of life and the career, eventually it was going to happen.”
Djokovic had also lost his opening match at the Monte-Carlo Masters earlier this month and said his sole focus for the clay season was the French Open. However, he now accepts that he might not be at his best in Paris.
The 37-year-old continued: “Now I’m trying to use this as a driving force for the future. Obviously Grand Slams, I was saying many times, are the most important tournaments for me.
“Which doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win here, of course I wanted to, but, you know, Grand Slams is 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 is running out of time to get some clay wins under his belt before the French Open. He is entered into the Masters 1000 in Rome, which begins on May 7.
There are also some smaller ATP events held in the week before Roland Garros, and he could take a late wildcard as he did last year in Geneva.
But the Serb has come to accept that he won’t be a huge title contender at the French, and it’s something he hopes will work in his favour.
“I’ll do my best for the future. Grand Slam, I’m not going into Roland Garros as one of the main favorites. Maybe that can help, I don’t know, we’ll see,” he said.
