By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday May 21, 2024
The Roland-Garros main draw kicks off in five days, and Novak Djokovic has not arrived on the grounds yet. That’s because the World No.1 is in Geneva, where he will take on Yannick Hanfmann in second-round action at the Geneva Open on Wednesday evening.
Djokovic, 12-5 on the season and still without an ATP title to his name, says he is in Geneva because he needs matches to feel right ahead of this year’s French Open.
It's not the typical warmup for Roland-Garros, but Djokovic believes that this year, given the circumstances, it is the right preparation.
And there is a precent. In 2021, Djokovic won the title in Belgrade, defeating Alex Molcan in the final, and then came to Paris to claim his second of three French Open titles.
“The reason why I chose to come and play is because I feel like at this moment, there is no better practice for me than match play,” said Djokovic, who is bidding for his 1,000th ATP win. “I feel like I need more matches, even if it's one match, two matches, three, four hopefully. It's good for me, because that's the way for me to try to find that kind of form that I need for Roland-Garros.”
The defending champion will bid for his fourth title in the French capital next week, but before he does, he would like to add a 99th career title in Geneva.
For Djokovic at the moment, it’s all about getting ready for the grind of best of five matches, and the 36-year-old feels he’s better off playing a tournament than simply heading to Paris for practice sessions at this point.
It has been a turbulent season for the Grand Slam king. He parted ways with longtime coach Goran Ivanisivec in March, before also changing fitness coaches last month.
Now working in a second stint with fitness trainer Gebhard Gritsch after parting ways with Marco Panichi, Djokovic is placing an emphasis on building strength and endurance as he bids for a 25th major title.
“In terms of fitness, I've dedicated quite a bit of time with my new fitness coach to build the endurance, to build physical strength and capabilities that I need in order to play a best-of-five Grand Slam on the physically most demanding surface, which is clay," Djokovic said. "So hopefully I'm going to get more than one match here in Geneva, that's the goal and then let's see what happens in Paris.”