Novak Djokovic on Roland Garros: “I want to play my best tennis there”

In any other part of the season, earlier-than-expected exits at back-to-back tournaments might be a concern for him. But Novak Djokovic has traditionally gotten better and better as the clay-court season goes on, and after falling to Dusan Lajovic in the quarterfinals of Banja Luka on Friday, he made his goal clear.

“I hope to get into tip-top shape for Roland Garros. I want to play my best tennis there,” the 22-time Grand Slam champion said.

“The conditions are totally different there in comparison with Monte Carlo and Banja Luka. There are still several weeks to practice and play. In the previous seasons, I’ve always had an unsatisfying and slow start on clay, and then played better tennis in the final stages.

“I hope to repeat the same pattern this year.”

And the stats definitely back that statement up.

Of the 18 ATP clay-court titles he’s won in his career, only two of them have come in April—his two Monte Carlo titles.

He’s won 16 of his 18 clay-court titles after April, 14 of them in May and June—most notably his three Madrid titles, five of his six Rome titles and his two French Open crowns. He’s won two even later in the season—one in July (Amersfoort in 2006, which was actually the first ATP title of his career) and one in September (Rome in 2020).

There’s also the issue of his elbow, which he’s struggled with in recent weeks, and which he addressed before his opening win over Luca Van Assche in Banja Luka. “My elbow is not in an ideal shape, but good enough to be ready for the first match,” he said ahead of his 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over the Frenchman on Tuesday.

After falling to Lajovic in Banja Luka on Friday, 6-4, 7-6 (6), Djokovic only had good things to say about his countryman.

“Dusan is a fantastic person, great guy, someone that I’ve known for a very long time, since he actually started playing professional tennis,” he said. “We’ve been so many times in the Davis Cup team together, trained together—I’m happy for him, to be honest. This is an important win for him, considering the last, probably, 12 months that he’s been through that were not easy for him.

“He’s playing well and deserved to win today.”

Djokovic very nearly pushed the match to a third set, building a 6-3, triple-set-point lead in the second set tie-break—but Lajovic was just too solid in the end and closed it out in straight sets.

“I was fighting to the last point. The fact that I did not play well at some moments, when it was necessary to play better, that doesn’t have anything to do with confidence, that’s a series of circumstances and my current condition, which is far worse than I expected.

“I’ve had my chances, but did not use them. I was rather passive, and made many mistakes that resulted in a defeat.”

After withdrawing from Madrid, Djokovic's next scheduled stop is Rome.