By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Wednesday, May 8, 2024
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic talks his new and old team and mission statement ahead of his quest to regain the Rome title.
Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty
Sliding swaths and skid streaks marked the red clay like routes on a road map.
All roads lead to Rome.
More: Badosa and Tsitsipas Split
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is putting in the hard yards on Rome’s practice courts and believes he’s on the right path to peak in Paris.
Meeting the media in Rome today, Djokovic said skipping the Mutua Madrid Open gave him time to do a training block with coach Nenad Zimonjic.
That preparation will be invaluable as Djokovic aims to capture a seventh Rome championship and prepare for defense of his Roland Garros crown later this month.
The top-seeded Serbian opens Rome against either French lucky loser Corentin Moutet or Roman Safiullin.
“I arrived here two days ago to get a hit on the center court, as well, obviously stay four or five days training before my first match with top players,” Djokovic told the media in Rome. “Obviously it's different when you train with them, playing practice sets, seeing where your game is at, kind of working your way towards the fine form for the first official match, so…
“I think I'm on a good route to peak at Roland Garros in Paris. Hopefully here in Rome I can play better than I did in Monte-Carlo. That's the wish, obviously, is always to go far. But let's see. It's a different concept now. It's the first time that Rome and Madrid are almost two weeks' events, like Indian Wells, Miami. It gives you I guess more time to recover between matches if you keep going in the tournament, which I think is useful for me.”
The 36-year-old Serbian superstar hits this prime stretch of clay season with just four matches on dirt to his credit, including a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 loss to Casper Ruud in the Monte-Carlo semifinals last month.
Djokovic has not won a title since sweeping Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner back-to-back to win the ATP Finals championship in Turin last November.
Still, Djokovic may just have played his cards right with his respite during Madrid while rivals Sinner, Alcaraz and reigning Rome champion Daniil Medvedev either aggravated existing injuries or acquired new ones at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Several of Djokovic’s biggest goals are within sight as he enters this crucial stretch of the season.
The Grand Slam king will play for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, aim to reclaim the Wimbledon crown he lost in an epic to Alcaraz last July and do something he’s never done in his historic career: Win the Olympic gold-medal for Serbia. The owner of 98 career titles, Djokovic needs two more championships to join Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) as just the third man in Open Era history to capture 100 career titles.
“I'm pleased with the way the last 10 days, 14 days went in terms of training, in terms of preparation and looking ahead to this tournament, but particularly Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Olympic Games,” Djokovic said. “That's the block for which we are preparing the most. Yeah, we just have to see, wait and see, how it's going to be translated, that work, or transformed into a good performance on the court.”
On court today, Djokovic practiced with Holger Rune a day after he trained with buddy Grigor Dimitrov.
Working with coach Zimonjic, a former doubles world No. 1, Djokovic has someone in his corner he knows and trusts. Djokovic split with fitness coach Marco Panichi last month and reunited with his former fitness trainer Gebhard Gritsch.
“I am working currently with a fitness coach that I worked with for many years,” Djokovic told the media in Rome. “It didn't take much time to adapt to his program and approach. We know each other really well. That's why I feel like we're synchronized from the very beginning in terms of what we want to do, how we want to approach the program of training on and off the court. With Nenad of course, as well.”