By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday May 15, 2022
Novak Djokovic is in the right frame of mind after winning the Rome title on Sunday. The World No.1 will enter Roland-Garros as the top seed and defending champ, and he believes he is peaking at the right time.
Gone are the worries that he might struggle in physical battles, as he did in Monte-Carlo and Belgrade, while struggling to shake free of an illness. Now, Djokovic says, it’s all systems go.
“I think physically I really felt really good from Madrid onwards,” he said on Sunday after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6(5) for the title at the Foro Italico. “Already there I felt like the physical issues that I was facing in Monte-Carlo and Serbia are behind me. I put in a lot of fitness hours between Serbia and Madrid. I had a week of training.
“I knew that it wasn't something related to my fitness, it was more related to the health issue, the illness I had just before the Monte-Carlo tournament. It turned out to be correct. I didn't have any fitness issues. It was just those traces of the illness that I had. Right now I feel perfect.”
Djokovic typically ramps up his clay season at Rome, where he is now a six-time champion. But there was some worry that he might not be able to find his peak tennis this year after playing just one event in the first three months due to his decision to remain unvaccinated, and the chaos that ensued at the Australian Open and its aftermath.
Now will 13 matches in a month and a half under his belt, the 34-year-old declares himself ready.
“I think with rankings and the way I've been playing in the last few weeks, I would rate myself as one of the favorites,” he said of Roland-Garros. “I don't obviously spend too much time thinking who's going to win it or who might have the best chance. I always think about myself. I go there with the highest ambitions, particularly of the way I played here. I really like my chances.”
Djokovic said that his five victories at Rome, the last three which came against Top-10 talents were the perfect preparation for what comes next. He’s relieved – and also energized – by that.
“To some extent it's a relief because after everything that happened at the beginning of the year, was important for me to win a big title, especially with Grand Slams coming up where obviously I want to play my best and be at the level of confidence I think more than just the game, where I want to be in order to have a chance to win the title,” he said. “I knew that even though I did not have tournaments prior to Monte-Carlo, I still felt rusty on the court. I knew I'm the kind of player, particularly on clay, that needs more time, at least three, four weeks to get to the desired level. Historically that's always been the case.
“Anything that I was really looking for here in Rome I got. It's the perfect kind of preparation and lead-up to Roland Garros.”