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Djokovic Disappointed but Hopeful after Early Exit in Madrid


Novak Djokovic is most certainly disappointed in his early exit at the Mutua Madrid Masters, but in the big picture the 12-time major champion sees steady improvement and is hopeful that he will continue to progress on the road to Roland Garros.

More: Bertens Ends Sharapova's Run at Madrid

“There are obvious things that are not working well for me,” Djokovic said after falling to Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund in three sets on Wednesday at the Caja Magica. “But I have to keep working on them and pray that—and hope that my game will get stronger, get better as definitely as the matches go the distance. Especially such big tournaments against quality players, you've got to step in. I tried but obviously, yeah, wasn't to be today.”

Djokovic dropped to 6-6 on the season but it’s hard to judge him on the record alone. He has undergone an elbow surgery and a complete upheaval of his coaching team in the first few month of 2018. This spring he is settling in with former coach Marian Vajda fitness trainer Gebhard Gritsch in the hopes that he can rekindle some old magic on the court.

There have been signs that he is doing just that. His win over Kei Nishikori in the first round at Madrid was his biggest win of the season. His next challenge will be to string together similar triumphs against that sort of competition.

When Djokovic was asked by a reporter if he felt he was moving forward he agreed. “Yeah, it does feel like that,” he said. “Obviously I'm disappointed from losing this match, but I can be happy with the progress of the level of tennis.”

His friend and rival Rafael Nadal said that he expects Djokovic to continue to improve and for his confidence to return as he picks up more matches. Nadal said that Wednesday’s loss to Edmund is a good example where confidence and momentum would help. The margins are thin out there and the Serb will find his way in time, says Nadal.

“Small things happen that normally when you're in a good momentum, those things don't happen,” Nadal said. “When you don't have that momentum, you're in a negative way, these things happen. Saying that, I think he's going step by step to be able to recover and be at the category he deserves. I don't have any doubt that he's going to be back up at the highest level.”

Djokovic certainly isn’t panicking. He knows what it takes to be on top of the sport and he’s patiently planning his path back there. There were bound to be bumps in the road and he’s prepared to accept temporary setbacks as he works himself back to form.

“It's two matches [that I’ve played in Madrid],” Djokovic said. “I haven't played a whole bunch, a lot of matches. But still two tough opponents, tough matches. As I said, you know, there are positives to take out from this.”

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