Ending his three-year hiatus from the Madrid Open, Novak Djokovic did not refrain from speaking his mind about the current status of his sport.
The World No.1 defeated Borna Coric in the second round of the tournament in what was his first match at the venue since his loss to Grigor Dimitrov at the 2013 edition. Since his last appearance at the Caja Magica, ideas have come and gone in tennis. For example Australia has introduced the idea of fast4 tennis and the BNP Paribas Masters is currently in the motion of requesting a brand new tournament status. The changes in the world of tennis is one thing that the sport needs in order to keep up to date according to the world No.1.
“I think people should be able to consider respecting and of course, always be true to the integrity of the sport and the history,” Djokovic said when talking about the previous use of blue clay courts on the tour.
“Having the mindset of innovation and evolution, is what I salute. I think that it’s the right way. Everything is moving forward. Tennis should, too,”
Djokovic’s endorsement of trying new things in tennis is a viewpoint that he has expressed on numerous occasions in the past. Shortly after winning this year’s BNP Paribas Open, he labelled the tournaments idea of a super masters as ‘something good for the players‘.
The future changes, whatever they will be, will most likely not affect the 28-year-old, but more so for the younger players. One of those younger players that is currently grabbing Djokovic’s attention is world No.40 Borna Coric. The Serbian defeated the teenager with ease in Madrid, but he still sees a bright future for the Croatian.
“Borna has a really impressive level of maturity for his age. He has a nice balance between confident approach and self-belief on the court and not being really intimidated by anyone’s presence,” Djokovic said about the youngster.
In recent years, Djokovic has been a mentor for the Croatian by giving him advice about life on the tour. Last year Coric said that he ‘wants to be just like Djokovic’. A clear sign of the strong bond between the two players.
Roberto Bautista Agut Next
The next stage in Djokovic’s Madrid campaign will be against 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round. The world No.1 has defeated the Spaniard on three previous occasions, dropping just one set.
“He plays really flat, not really a characteristic of the Spanish style of tennis that involves a lot of rotation and spin on the shots. Bautista runs around and always makes the opponent play an extra shot. He’s very calm on the court, very composed,” Djokovic said about his upcoming oponent.
Djokovic’s match against Bautista Agut will be the third on the Manolo Santana court on Thursday.
