World No.1 two units up at French Open | EUROtoday

He’s the defending champion, the world No.1 and absolutely most individuals’s favorite to win. But whereas all that’s true, it’s additionally truthful to say that Novak Djokovic comes into this 12 months’s French Open with extra query marks hanging over him than for a lot of a 12 months. That’s not one thing misplaced on him, as after final week’s chastening defeat to little-known Czech participant Tomas Machac, his sixth lack of the 12 months, he admitted he was ‘worried’.

The solely cause the 24-time grand slam winner performed in Geneva was as a result of he was looking for type, and he left with much more doubts. He mentioned after his shock defeat final week that he doesn’t really feel assured.

“Of course I’m worried,” mentioned Djokovic, who had taken the uncharacteristic step of asking for a wild card into Geneva after an much more shocking loss within the third spherical of Rome. That one was towards Alejandro Tabilo, a Canadian who performs beneath the Chilean flag.

“I haven’t played well at all this year, apart from a few matches here and there. I don’t see myself as a favourite in Paris.

“I didn’t have a great night…It’s not nice to suffer like that on the court. It’s hard to concentrate on tennis when you have other things on your mind. I just hope to be ready and in good health for Roland Garros.”

All in all it doesn’t sound essentially the most rousing, ‘let’s get right down to enterprise’ speech. In truth it’s extra ‘if I win, I win, if I lose, I lose’ damp squib of a self-address, which isn’t what you affiliate with the Serb.

To add to the sense that one thing is altering within the males’s recreation, Nadal misplaced within the first spherical for the primary time yesterday. His defeat to Alexander Zverev didn’t come as an entire shock (he, like Djokovic, was out of shape) but it surely does add to a changing-of-the-guard really feel that Djokovic will likely be determined to keep away from this night when he comes up towards native favorite Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Stay right here to seek out out whether or not the defending champion can discover his mojo and keep away from a shock defeat.