Novak Djokovic admitted that he has low expectations ahead of the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters, given his previous results at the event.
The Monte-Carlo Masters hasn't been a very good event for the Serbian in recent years because it's been a decade since he had a good result. Djokovic won the first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year in 2015, and since then, the farthest he came was the quarter-final, with the most recent one happening in 2019.
He lost to Daniel Evans in the third round in 2021, to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round in 2022, and to Lorenzo Musetti in the third round last year.
Some of those losses can be explained as he's generally a player who doses himself quite a bit, so the first event on clay is likely not the event where he'll peak.
It's more about just getting a few matches on the surface as he works his way to peak form for Roland Garros. This year has obviously not been very good for him either, with the Indian Wells Open ending in a shocking loss to Luca Nardi.
In light of that, Djokovic doesn't expect much at this event, as he told L'Equipe in a recent interview.
"To be honest, not very high. Considering the way I played this year and the last results here. For me, it's mainly a question of building my game on clay, hoping to reach peak form again at Roland Garros. Everything else before will be a bonus, if I have good results."
Djokovic's goal in Monte Carlo is not necessarily to win. He'll take it, of course, if he plays well enough, but it's more about preparing for the rest of the clay season and getting a few matches in.
He has a first-round bye and will face either Roman Safiullin or a qualifier in the second round.
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