Novak Djokovic: 'I'm doing everything to get ready for Roland Garros'

• Tennis News
• Novak Djokovic

World no. 1 Novak Djokovic will give his best to raise his level by Roland Garros and get a chance to defend his title. Novak has played only four matches in 2022, suffering early losses in Dubai and Monte Carlo and hoping for a better run in front of the home fans in Belgrade.

The Serb admitted that he needs more matches in the upcoming weeks prior to Paris after lacking competitive time on the court. The former champion suffered an early loss in Monte Carlo, falling to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 in two hours and 54 minutes.

It was Novak's worst Masters 1000 result since Miami 2018, and he went back home to Belgrade to train and work on his game. The Serb lost only a couple of games against the Spaniard in their previous two encounters last year but could not find the rhythm in this one.

Novak Djokovic has played only four matches this season.

Struggling to impose his strokes in windy conditions, Novak sprayed too many mistakes and hit the exit door in only his second ATP tournament of the season. The Spaniard defended seven out of 11 break chances and delivered nine breaks from 20 opportunities to control the scoreboard in sets one and three.

It was Djokovic's worst serving performance in the best-of-three matches in a career, never getting broken that many times before. The Serb battled past his rival in the second set to force a decider, but he had nothing left in the tank for the encounter's third set.

"Roland Garros is the quintessential clay-court tournament. I'm partly already there in my thoughts in terms of preparation, and I'm doing everything I can at the moment to prepare for the clay Major. I was not fully ready for Monte Carlo, and I knew that before the tournament started.

However, I need match practice, and this is the surface that requires a lot of time spent on the court. I'm excited to play more matches. I need more time on the court, more competition and match play to get my game closer to the desired level.

My current plans include Madrid and Rome. It depends on my result here in Belgrade and the shape I'm in. We'll decide then," Novak Djokovic said.