Novak Djokovic may not be the undisputed favorite to win the 2024 Roland Garros but he has been backed to "figure it out" amid form struggles.
Djokovic has endured one of the most challenging seasons of his career so far. He has yet to win a title in the first four and half months of 2024 and was dethroned as Australian Open defending champion by Jannik Sinner in January.
Shock early defeats to Luca Nardi in Indian Wells and Alejandro Tabilo in Rome have threatened to send the Serbian's year into crisis mode. With another important title defense set to begin in Paris this weekend, Djokovic chose to get more court time in Geneva.
The decision to accept a late wild card came as a massive surprise because Djokovic has only played in a tournament a week before a Grand Slam three times over the course of his career. Yet, if there is a player who cannot be discounted from turning his fortunes around, it is Djokovic.
That's the perspective of tennis pundit Laura Robson. In an interview with Tennis365, the former WTA World No. 27 stated that it is "unusual" to see Djokovic searching for solutions but is convinced he is "going to be fine."
"It’s so unusual for him not to be in peak form leading up to a Slam, but then there are other times when it’s happened and he has been totally fine by the time he gets to the third round and plays through a few matches."
"He has so much confidence in these situations and you can only have that belief by winning as much as he has in his life. To beat him in a Slam is very, very tough to do. So I would put him in as one of the top three favourites for the tournament. Novak Djokovic is going to be just fine when he gets to a Slam."
Robson further explained that tennis players are prone to dips. But the special band, which includes the likes of Djokovic, don't experience this so often in their careers, hence the perceived overreaction.
"Everyone has dips, but he doesn’t have many. So when he does, it’s blown out of proportion. All players have times when they have periods where they are working on things in practice that they can’t put on to the match court, but if anyone can figure it out, it’s going to be Novak Djokovic. He knows what he needs to do in a best-of-five set match better than anybody."
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