Novak Djokovic once again skipped over any prep events for Wimbledon and he has no reason to believe it won't work.
The Serbian has been skipping preparation ATP events for years opting to simply play one or two exhibition matches in order to get ready. He's been employing this setup for a while now using the event to play himself into form and peak when he needs to.
The last time he played at a prep event was back in 2018 when he played at Queen's. He won Wimbledon that year too so it's not like it's making any difference. His first match at this year's Wimbledon was a solid 3-set win over Pedro Cachin.
Djokovic didn't really plan on playing any grass events unless he lost early at Roland Garros. As we all know, he didn't but rather went all the way to lift the trophy. He then went to Portugal for some recovery time and enjoyed his stay in the Azores.
I didn't play in Azores. I actually hiked a lot with my wife, I took some time, spent some quality time with her. Amazing, amazing food. Amazing people. Very friendly.
It was great because I've been through a lot of different emotions during the clay season, particularly obviously reaching the climax in Paris, and I needed to get away, get isolated a little bit.
Djokovic then shifted his focus on his preparation for Wimbledon. He explained the mindset behind him opting to just practice on the surface instead of playing competitive matches admitting that it works better for him.
I just played few times actually Queen's or Eastbourne. In '17 Queen's, and I think '18. After that I haven't played lead-up events because I just felt that it's probably better for me to take an extra week of training to get used to the grass, the movement, the specifics of grass court tennis, what it requires from the player. Different tactics, different game style.
While this work for him, Djokovic understands that it's ideal to play some competitive matches as well because you can't really replicate the urgency in practice. He took care of that by playing against Tiafoe in Hurlingham.
Ideally, yes, you want to play one or two or three official matches. But, yeah, just too short of a time. I was too exhausted physically, emotionally. I just needed to regroup. It has worked the last four years. No reason to believe it cannot work again. It's a long tournament. So far I'm feeling good.
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