World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is hoping to get a few matches under his belt at this week’s Geneva Open ahead of his title defence at Roland Garros, after recovering from a freak injury he suffered this month.
Djokovic has struggled this season and has yet to win a tournament in 2024.
The 24-time grand slam champion’s preparations for the French Open have been far from ideal, beginning with a loss to Casper Ruud in the Monte Carlo semi-finals.
He then opted to skip the Madrid Open before losing in the third round of the Italian Open, two days after he was hit on the head by a fan’s water bottle while signing autographs.
The Serbian, who said he felt out of sorts during his 6-2 6-3 loss to Alejandro Tabilo, told reporters on Tuesday: “The head is good. All is well.
“I’ve trained for over a week and I’m feeling fine.
“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.
“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,” Djokovic said.
World No. 1’s pick
Djokovic said Rafael Nadal was his favourite to win the French Open, despite the record 14-time champion struggling for fitness in the twilight of his career.
He said if Nadal was in the French Open draw, he could not be ruled out, despite his injury problems and growing competition from a younger generation.
“This year is more open,” Djokovic said. “Casper Ruud is surely one of the five players who are candidates to win.
“You have Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas —all the players who won a major tournament on this surface this year.
“But when you talk about Roland-Garros and Nadal is there, he is always the biggest favourite for me.”
Reuters