Novak Djokovic will return to the tennis courts at the 2024 Geneva Open, and he provided an update on his head injury, which he suffered in Rome.
Djokovic's stay in Rome wasn't as long as many expected it to be because he was beaten in his second match in the Italian capital. The level from match one to match two dropped off significantly, and many blamed it on the bottle incident he had, when a fan dropped a metal bottle on his head.
That's the only thing that happened between those matches that could have potentially impacted his play, and the number of tests he did on his head after it happened suggests that there was truly an issue.
He'll be back on the courts in Geneva, and his play will likely provide all the answers. Before that, he provided an update on his head when talking to the media, admitting that there doesn't seem to be any problem.
"The head is good. All is well, so far. I trained for over a week and I’m feeling fine."
The fact that Djokovic signed up to play at the ATP 250 event prior to a major surprised quite a few people, but he explained why he did it, and it makes perfect sense. He needs more matches, and matches are indeed the best practice he can get right now.
Obviously, he wants to test himself as well because that last match at the Italian Open was not very good. He didn't look like himself, and he wants to see where he stands.
That is valuable information before Roland Garros because he doesn't want to go into a Grand Slam unsure of where he stands both physically and level-wise.
That's why he's playing, and his first test will come against Yannick Hanfmann, a tricky player who managed to outplay Andy Murray in the opening round of the tournament.