The clay season has not started in the best way for Novak Djokovic. The Serbian champion made up for a bad defeat against Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo and then stopped in the quarterfinals in Banja Luka, losing the derby with Dusan Lajovic for the first time.
Djokovic also had to deal with an elbow problem; problem that arose during one of the training sessions held in the Principality. Djokovic, in order not to jeopardize his participation in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and the Roland Garros, preferred not to take further risks and decided not to play the Mutua Madrid Open.
Jimmy Connors, former ATP number one, spoke about Djokovic on the Advantage Connors podcast, giving an important piece of advice to the World No.1.
Jimmy Connors: “Novak Djokovic shouldn’t be discouraged”
He told: “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.”
The hope is to see him at his fullest potential on the court in Rome, an event he won last year. The Rome tournament has often helped Djokovic find his best form ahead of Roland Garros.
The Serbian will try to redeem his last negative performances at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. An event that will also have a great impact on his ranking, especially considering the success achieved in 2022.
Carlos Alcaraz could in fact carry out the counter-overtake in Rome in the next few weeks.
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