The 2023 Roland Garros is looming, and Andy Roddick questions if Novak Djokovic is physically prepared for the grueling battle ahead.
As the clay dust settles from the quarterfinal loss at the 2023 Italian Open, Djokovic must now turn his focus towards the 2023 Roland Garros. His performance on the clay this year has caused a stir in the tennis community, sparking concern from notable figures like Andy Roddick.
The former World No. 1 believes the Serb's current physical condition might just be the roadblock standing between him and another Grand Slam title as he revealed when talking to the Tennis Channel.
Roddick's concern stems from the rigorous format of the Grand Slam tournaments, which require players to endure up to seven gruelling five-set matches in just over a fortnight.
"Novak needs to get his body right, needs to feel like he's physically fit to go three out of five [sets] seven times in 15 days at Roland Garros. He has proven he can do that time and time again."
The former world no. 1 also talked about Holger Rune, the youngster that stunned Djokovic in Rome. As Roddick said, the conversation has already changed from 'the NextGen is coming' to them being present already and beating the top players.
"Rune is quickly changing the conversation from 'This is what I believe I can do' to 'This is what I'm actually capable of and here are the facts of my accomplishments'. To go out there and bully Novak around the court in wet conditions is not the easiest thing to do, I promise you."
And that's also something that Djokovic noticed. His most recent losses came against young players such as Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti, so the Serb definitely feels the changing of guards taking place already.
"The new generation is here already. I mean, Alcaraz is No. 1 in the world from Monday. Obviously, he's playing amazing tennis. I think it's also good for our sport that we have new faces, new guys coming up. It's normal. We've been saying this for years, that we can expect that moment to come when you have a shift of generations."
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