After losing in the semi-final of the 2022 Madrid Open, Novak Djokovic will try to lift the trophy at the 2022 Italian Open, where he's the first seed and will take on Aslan Karatsev on Tuesday.
Djokovic played a really good tournament in Madrid, reaching the semi-finals. He lost only in the tie-break of the third set to the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. After the ATP Masters 1000 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 if he lost already in his first match, 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 Serbian admitted that his goals for this season are different.
His main focus will be on leveling Rafael Nadal with the 21st Grand Slam title. He will have a chance to do that at the French Open, where his rival triumphed 13 times, and in Rome, he admitted that his main goal is peaking in Paris.
"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."
Working towards that goal, Djokovic thinks that he's heading in the right direction. He has all the experience necessary, and he's trying to put it to practice to challenge for his 21st major in the French capital.
"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."
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