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Hold on despite his victory at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome Novak Djokovic not himself as the big favorite at the French Open, which starts in less than a week. You couldn’t talk to anyone about defending champions Rafael Nadal said, said the number one in the world after his triumph in the Italian capital.
by Nikolaus Fink
Last edit: September 22, 2020, 02:46 am
© Getty Images
No, the audience in front of the televisions and the few people in the venue during the week of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome were not offered the highest level. It is true that the semi-final match between Diego Schwartzman and Denis Shapovalov was definitely a match for tennis lovers, but otherwise, the players were mostly able to convince with fighting.
Probably no one applies this sentence more than Novak Djokovic. The world number one fought Filip Krajinovic, Dominik Koepfer, Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman, especially at the start of the respective match, but eventually won the title of the Italian capital.
Djokovic: “I didn’t play my best tennis”
Djokovic himself knew that the level shown in Rome at the French Open, which begins on September 27, was too low for the tournament: “I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I haven’t played my best tennis. I still have some fields and the I will need to get a good result at Roland Garros. “
Only the service made the industry leader completely satisfied, the 33-year-old wants to work on the other aspects of his game before the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. Because Djokovic expects in particular a strong Rafael Nadal, who already said goodbye in Rome in the quarterfinals.
Conditions as an advantage for Djokovic?
“He’s the top seed. You can’t put anyone above him, especially given his history there,” Djokovic said of the 12-time French Open champion. The fact that somewhat slower conditions and the rebranding of the ball are more likely to adapt to Serbian play than to that of their long-running Spanish opponent appears to be largely unanimous on the tennis scene.
After the tournament in Rome, Djokovic feels well prepared for the conditions at the Bois de Boulogne: “Heavy sand, no high jump, wet, night sessions – we’ll have all of that in Paris too.” In the end, however, the main thing would be to compete in top form in the French capital: “I hope I can level up. This victory here gives me the confidence that a Grand Slam tournament needs.”
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