The Masters 1000 in Rome is the best prelude to what could be happening at Roland Garros and at least, in his debut in this tournament, Novak Djokovic He let it be seen that he is healthy and with the aim of becoming the top winner of Grand Slams.
Rafael Nadal He is still in cotton, he has not played since the Australian Open, he has focused on being healthy for the clay season, but his left leg psoas injury has not allowed him, so he will arrive at Roland Garros without having stepped on clay at a competitive level. And that does come.
With this scenario, Djokovic he could have the window open to become the winningest tennis player of all time when it comes to Grand Slams with 23. Currently, both the Spanish and the Serbian are tied with 22 crowns each.
Yesterday ‘Nole’ made his debut in Rome without many setbacks by beating Argentina’s Tomás Etcheverry 7-6, 6-2, improving his mark to 17-0 making his debut in the Italian capital, marking his 65th Internazionali BNL d’Italia win and putting his 3-1 record on clay in 2023.
“I’m still not at the desired level, I still have to find the shots and the rhythm on the court,” said Djokovic, who had not competed since the Banja Luka ATP 250 in Bosnia & Herzegovina, where he reached the quarterfinals.
“It’s always a bit tricky facing someone for the first time. He is a clay court specialist. He started better than me, I started quite slow but found my rhythm towards the end of the first. The second set was good, especially the last three or four games. I am happy with the way I closed the match”, he added.
Djokovic has reached at least the quarterfinals in each of his previous 16 appearances at the Masters 1000 in Rome and wants to continue that trend and arrive in the French capital as the top seed and reach 23 crowns in the big four. of the ATP.
Novak Djokovic will face the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov tomorrow in the round of 32. The series is totally in favor of the Serbian, since, out of 11 games, he has won 10. His only setback in this rivalry was 10 years ago in Madrid. “I know I don’t have the best record against Djokovic, but I like facing him. You never know how he’s going to fare at the end of the day. I always like my chances,” Dimitrov confessed.
NUMBERS
Novak Djokovic boasts 65 victories in Rome for only 10 defeats
18 wins for three losses in his record in this 2023
NOVAK DJOKOVIC SO FAR THIS YEAR
ADELAIDE
One of the two tournaments he has won this season was at the Adelaide Open, where he beat American Sebastian Korda in the final. He highlighted his win in the second round against Daniil Medvedev.
AUSTRALIA
Novak won the first Grand Slam of the year after beating Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Australian Open in three sets by partials of 6-3, 7-6 and 7-6. With this result he equaled Rafa Nadal with 22 GS titles.
DUBAI
There in the Middle East, he could not meet expectations by falling in the semifinals against Danill Medvedev by a double 4-6. He did not start the contest well, as he needed three sets to throw out the Czech Tomas Machac.
MONTECARLO
His first Masters 1000 of the year did not go well for him, as he was eliminated in the third round after losing to the Italian Lorenzo Musetti by partials of 6-4, 5-7 and 4-6. The first round advanced bye and in the second he eliminated the Russian Ivan Gakhov.
BANJA LUKA
In Bosnia & Herzegovina he played only his fifth tournament of the year and without good results, as he fell in the quarterfinals against his compatriot Disan Lajovic 4-6, 6-7. Since then he hadn’t stood on the court of an ATP tournament.
MOST GRAND SLAM TITLES IN HISTORY
Rafael Nadal 23
Novak Djokovic 23
Roger Federer 20
Pete Sampras 14
Roy Emerson 12
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2023-05-13 07:16:39
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