After losing in the semifinals in Madrid, Novak Djokovic will try to lift the trophy at the 2022 Italian Open where he's the first seeded and will take on Aslan Karatsev on Tuesday.
Novak Djokovic played a really good tournament in Madrid when he reached the semifinals and lost only in the tie-break of the third set to the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. After the tournament, he kept his world number one spot in the ATP Rankings, but will need to fight for it at the 2022 Italian Open.
Currently, Daniil Medvedev would have a 310 point lead over the Serbian, but Djokovic has the advantage of playing in Rome and being able to add some points to his name. However, despite the big probability of winning the title in Rome and retaining the world number one position, the Serbia admits that his goals for the season are different. The main focus will be on levelling Rafael Nadal with the 21st Grand Slam title.
"I think it's closer to [my] desired level every week. Madrid, even though I lost in the semi-finals, I still think I played really good tennis. Felt physically 100 per cent, even after an almost three-and-a-half-hour battle against Alcaraz. I recovered well the next day, was ready to go. That's a positive and encouraging factor prior to Rome and also, of course, the big goal, which is Paris."
"I think I'm in the right direction. I know I can always play better, and I know that I'm very self-critical on the court. At the same time, realistically looking, I think the tennis, quality of tennis, level of tennis, is really high now. Hopefully I can maintain that level throughout this week and build, go deep in this tournament hopefully — that's the goal — and come to Paris well-prepared."
0 Comments