The Olympic Village is described by many athletes as a key part of their Olympic experience but Novak Djokovic has decided to stay elsewhere this year.
According to a member of Serbia’s Olympic delegation, the 24-time Grand Slam champion will be based outside the village as he prepares his bid to win the only title that has eluded him so far in his career. Djokovic will be making his fifth consecutive appearance at the Games with this year’s tennis tournament taking place on clay at Roland Garros.
Three years ago in Tokyo, he narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in the singles (losing to Pablo Carreno Busta) and in the mixed doubles (withdrew from the bronze medal match due to injury). The only time he claimed a medal was in 2008 when he won bronze in the singles event.
“We expect Novak to arrive within the next few days, although he will not be staying with us in the Village,” a member of Serbia’s Olympic delegation told claytennis.com.
Djokovic is yet to speak about his decision to stay outside the Olympic village but he will not be the only athlete doing so. In May this year, he said during an interview with the ITF that he plans to use his past experiences to get him into top shape.
“Just being in that village, you feel incredibly inspired and proud to be there.” He said.
“But also I’m going to learn from my previous Olympic experiences and try and keep my routine so that I can perform my best.”
Djokovic comes into Paris on the hunt for his first title of the season, as well as his first win over a top 10 player. His last match was at Wimbledon where he fell in straight sets to Carlos Alcaraz who will also be playing in Paris.
The draw for the Olympic tennis event will take place on Thursday at 11:00 CEST.
