Novak Djokovic’s Struggles Continue: Can He Bounce Back in Rome?

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Novak Djokovic’s weak season: no chance in Rome

On Saturday, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who will travel to Paris without a title in the calendar year for the first time since 2018, was in the mood to joke again and showed up to training wearing a bicycle helmet. But the bitter setback followed on Sunday. In his third round game against the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, Djokovic had no chance for long stretches at 2:6, 3:6; it was the next warning shot that the exceptional talent received this year.

No tournament victory yet, instead repeated surprising bankruptcies and many breaks – the Serb is weakening massively before an extremely exciting summer with the French Open, Wimbledon, the Olympic Games and the US Open. And the question is making the rounds as to whether he can repeat the top class of previous years.

At the age of 36, the “Djoker” is heading towards the late autumn of his career; last year he silenced all doubters with titles in Melbourne, Paris and New York. The sometimes idiosyncratic athlete is currently a long way from this dominance, and even after parting ways with his long-time successful coach Goran Ivanisevic at the end of March, there has been no improvement in form (yet).

His big goal this year is the Olympic Games in Paris; Djokovic is still missing gold for Serbia. Before that, his fourth title should be won at the same place at the French Open – but there are still some question marks, not only because of the superstar’s medical condition.

2024-05-13 09:50:00
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