MADRID, 1 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic was relieved to have a clear schedule for the next few months where he can play, still dealing with what happened at the Australian Open but gradually recovering his level and feeling better the more time he spends on the court, his target now at the Mutua Madrid Open.
“I’m happy to be back on the courts, playing tournaments, having a schedule and seeing where I can reach my peak. Obviously on clay that’s Roland Garros, and then I’ll be able to be at Wimbledon as well. I’m happy for the next few months, in those that I have clear where I can play. Hopefully I can get the best of me, especially in the ‘Grand Slams'”, he said this Sunday.
‘Nole’, three times champion in Madrid, attended a press conference with the media for the first time at La Caja Mágica, recalling in part his ordeal in January, when he was deported from Australia after a lengthy lawsuit, due to his posture and lack of vaccine against coronavirus. “I’ve never been through anything like what I went through at the beginning of the year, and I don’t know how it will affect me,” he said.
“I still have to deal with it, it’s not like the first few weeks. I feel like the more I play, the better I feel. But the situation with the lack of games has not been easy. I’ve had to deal with a lot of things mentally.” Djokovic who arrives in Madrid after playing the final of the Belgrade tournament.
“I was able to get knocked out easily in my first match and he had four three-set matches, over two and a half hours. I wanted to spend time on court and that’s what I got out of it, and playing finals is also a good result, positive. I don’t I liked how I finished the tournament, in the third set, with something similar to Monte Carlo, I ran out of gas,” he said, before explaining that downturn.
Back in Belgrade, where he posted a meager 5-3 in wins and matches in 2022, after a 6-0 third-set loss to Andrey Rublev in the final, Djokovic hinted that he suffered something akin to his early exit in Monaco. “It’s related to the illness I had a week before Monte Carlo, not the lack of games,” he said.
“I knew that I was not 100% but I wanted to play in Monaco, where I have lived for years. It has stayed in my system and comes out when I have a moment of physical demand. But in Belgrade I played four games too long to think that it has improved the situation,” he added.
In addition, the number one in the world was asked about the Wimbledon decision to ban Russian and Belarusian tennis players from playing, about Russia’s war against Ukraine, and possible measures by the ATP. “It is not an easy situation, I have spoken with some of the Russian players, separated from one of the biggest tournaments. There is frustration. The ATP is analyzing the situation and what it can do, I have not spoken with them,” he said.
“I went through something similar at the beginning of the year, it’s frustrating that they don’t let you play. It’s not fair, they’re within their rights and now I guess it’s our organization that has to think about its decision, if it keeps the points that Wimbledon gives, take away 50%, take them away or whatever. A more realistic option is to protect the points of the Russian and Belarusian players who are not playing.”