Novak Djokovic did not shine in his first two red clay tournaments, where he was prematurely eliminated by Alejandro Tabilo (Monte Carlo) and Matteo Arnaldi (Madrid). The former world number one has made the surprising decision not to play the Rome Masters 1000, knowing that he is too far from his best level right now, and has accepted a wild card for the Geneva ATP 250, which is scheduled for next week.
His main goal is to play a few more matches on this surface before Roland Garros, where he will hunt for the 25th Major title of his amazing career. The Serbian ace will have less pressure than in the past, because he will not be among the favorites in Paris and his latest performances do not lead to be too confident.
In addition, the 37-year-old from Belgrade announced his separation from Andy Murray after just six months. Their collaboration had started in a really positive way with the semifinal reached by Nole at the Australian Open – where he had achieved a feat by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals – but then the Serbian had returned to struggle as in the past season (with the exception of the final reached at the Miami Open).
It is unclear who will follow Novak in the upcoming tournaments – in particular at Roland Garros and Wimbledon – which could be decisive for the continuation of his career.
Nole could have a tough draw
Djokovic is now ranked sixth in the ATP rankings and might drop to eighth before the French Open. This means that the 24-time Grand Slam champion might face Alex de Minaur, Tommy Paul, Holger Rune, or Daniil Medvedev in Paris’ round of 16, followed by Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, or Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. The fourth seed will be one of Taylor Fritz, Jack Draper, or Casper Ruud.
Meanwhile, Nole is practicing in Belgrade with the goal of recovering the best sensations before next week in Geneva.