Clay 'Most Challenging Surface To Adapt' For Djokovic

| by Alfredo Bassanelli

Novak Djokovic played his first clay-court match of the season and he admitted that second-round is what he needed.

At the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters, the experienced Serb took on qualifier Ivan Gakhov and beat him in two sets after some initial resistance from the Russian. Following the victory, Djokovic was happy to get the win under his belt.

“Match play is what I need. Practice points is something that helps, but nothing helps as [much as] playing an official match. So that's why I'm hoping I can have as many matches as possible this week. I'm really glad I overcame the first step, because I hope things will be better and easier from this point onwards.”

2023 Italian Open Rome ATP Entry List - Alcaraz, Djokovic, Nadal & more
2023 Italian Open Rome ATP Entry List - Alcaraz, Djokovic, Nadal & more

Djokovic is one of the players that can play really well on all three surfaces, hard, clay and grass. However, after his first win in the Monte-Carlo Country Club, he admitted that the red dirt is the most difficult surface for him.

“Clay surface for me is the most challenging surface to adapt, to get into rhythm. Maybe for some other guys it's more natural, the movement, the ball striking, in a way finding the right tempo on the shots. For me, it just takes more than some other guys. That's how it is, how it always was.”

Despite being ranked 198th in the ATP Rankings, Gakhov proved to be a very challenging opponent for the Serb and the world no. 1 mentioned that he didn't know much about him before the match.

“I'm glad to start a clay season with a win against [an] opponent I didn't know much about prior to today. I actually watched a little bit of his video from the first-round win he had yesterday. That's it.“

Djokovic Happy With 'Ugly Tennis Win' In Monte Carlo
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