Novak Djokovic believes there are misunderstandings over his newly formed tennis association as he returns back to winning ways at the Italian Open.
The world No.1 kicked off his campaign in Rome with 84-minute 6-3, 6-2, win over Italy’s Salvatore Caruso in his opening match on Wednesday. Djokovic won 81% of his first service points and didn’t face a single break point en route to claiming his 27th win of the season. The victory is his first since the US Open where he got disqualified in the fourth round after accidentally hitting a court official with a ball. In the wake of recent controversy, the Serbian admitted that it was a relief to back on the court.
“I was actually looking forward to getting the official match as soon as possible after what happened in New York because I feel like the sentiment on the court needs to be positive, and I need to kind of remove anything that can possibly cause any kind of issues to me if there is something,” Djokovic said afterwards.
“So I didn’t feel that I had any mental or emotional blockages or any dramas playing a match today. In contray, I felt very comfortable playing.’
“It was a very good test for me. I’m very pleased with the way I handled myself in important moments. I was in control of the match. Served well when I needed to come up with a big serve and moved well.”
Despite his perfect winning record in 2020 recently coming to an end in Flushing Meadows, Djokovic says he ‘no longer pays attention’ to such figures when it comes to his performance. Although he says he doesn’t consider himself as unbeatable. On the European clay Rafael Nadal is regarded as the man to beat given his dominance on the surface in recent years with a record 12 French Open trophies.
It isn’t just on the court where the 33-year-old has been linked with controversy. Recently he launched the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) along with Vasek Pospisil. A separate organisation set up to campaign for greater rights for players when it comes to decision making on the ATP Tour. The move has resulted in Djokovic being asked to leave the ATP Player Council, which he has, and criticism from the two other members of the Big Three. Nadal and Roger Federer, who remains on the council, co-signed a letter urging their peers not to join the PTPA due to what they say are ‘unanswered questions.’
“The main point of the players association is not that we want to fight ATP, ITF, Grand Slams,or anybody else. A lot of people have gotten the players association wrong,” Djokovic argues.
“I never said, Vasek never said, or anybody who is part of the association, that we want to boycott or we want to separate ourselves from ATP or anything like that. We want to work together in this ecosystem with ATP, with everyone else.’
“We are not just a men’s players association. We want women to be involved, as well.”
The Serbian said he recently had a ‘private chat’ with Andrea Gaudenzi who is the chairman of the ATP. Details of the conversation have not been disclosed by Djokovic insists that the two have an ‘open and transparent relationship.’ Meanwhile he is yet to go lock horns with critic Nadal over the subject.
“I saw him very, very briefly, very quickly, just said hello. We didn’t chat about tennis politics or anything like that. And that’s not gonna happen during the tournament,” he explained.
“Maybe there will be time for that next week before Roland Garros when we don’t have matches for maybe three, four days, maybe that would be a chance to do it.”
Djokovic will play fellow Serbian Filip Krajinovic in the third round. He is seeking to win the Rome Masters for the fifth time in his career and first since 2015.
