Novak Djokovic says he is ready to fight for the biggest titles in tennis after enduring what has arguably been one of the toughest and most controversial periods of his career.
The world No.1 heads into this week’s Monte Carlo Masters with just three matches under his belt so far this season. In January unvaccinated Djokovic flew to Australia with the belief that he would be able to play at the Australian Open with a medical exemption. However, upon arrival he was detained by border officials and a high-profile fiasco unfolded surrounding the legitimacy of his visa. After two separate court hearings, he was eventually deported from the country following an order by the government which was legally deemed acceptable.
Djokovic also missed both Masters events in America due to the country requiring all entrants to have a covid-19 vaccination. Something the 20-time Grand Slam champion has said he is currently not prepared to do due to personal reservations about potential side effects. His only taste of competitive tennis was at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he reached the quarter-finals before losing to Jiri Vesely.
“I miss competition. I still feel motivation to be on the tour and compete with the young guys and try to challenge the best players in the world for the biggest titles,” Djokovic told reporters on Sunday.
“Obviously the last four, five months have been really challenging for me mentally and emotionally but here I am and I try to leave all of that behind and move on.”
The lack of match play raises the inevitable questions about how Djokovic will fare over the coming weeks on clay in the build up to his title defence at the French Open. He has won Monte Carlo twice before in 2013 and 2015, as well as settling for runner up on two other occasions.
Djokovic himself admits he will need time before finding his form again but stated he is ready for the challenge.
“I intend to play a full clay court season according to my schedule of the previous years. I understand that I probably won’t be at my best, particularly at the beginning of this week,” he said.
“I am still testing my engine and building my game, so it will take obviously some time, some matches to really get in the groove and find the competitive play that I really need.’
“Roland Garros is the ultimate goal in the clay court season, but of course I want to do my best in every tournament.”
Despite his absence in recent times, Djokovic remains at the top of the ATP rankings. Although he was briefly unseated from that position for three weeks by Daniil Medvedev. He will shortly be celebrating his 365th week as world No.1 and is on course to eclipse the Stefi Graf’s all-time record (377 weeks).
“I’m very pleased and very happy with that milestone, although I didn’t expect myself to be No. 1 without playing really tournaments this year, but I guess I was lucky,” Djokovic reflects.
“I’ll take it. You know, being the No. 1 in the world is the highest achievement that you can have in our sport, so obviously, you know, I’ll try to maintain that position as much as possible.”
Granted a bye in the first round, Djokovic will start his Monte Carlo campaign against Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina who reached the quarter-finals last year. Forkina best Marcos Giron 7-5, 6-3, in his opening match on Sunday.
