Novak Djokovic is hopeful that his run at the Monte Carlo Masters has set strong foundations for the rest of the clay swing as he chases after his first title of the season.
The world No.1 missed out on a place in the final of the Masters 1000 event following a three-set loss to Norway’s Casper Ruud. Djokovic trailed 1-4 in the final set of his latest match before fighting back to draw level. However, the comeback wasn’t enough to see him cross the finish line with the Serbian hitting a double fault when facing match point. It is the first time he has been beaten by Ruud who he still leads 5-1 in their head-to-head.
“I had my chances but the last game was not great,” Djokovic reflected on his latest performance.
“Unforced errors and he (Ruud) was solid until the last shot and deserved to win.
“My game was kind of up and down. The positive thing is that I managed to come back after losing the first set and found strength in the game.
“So there are positives to take away from this tournament but of course I’m disappointed with the loss.”
Djokovic currently has 11 wins against four losses so far this season (including the United Cup). He has yet to reach a tournament final but did reach the last four at the Australian Open before losing to Jannik Sinner. He has now failed to win a title during the first four months of a season in two out of the last three years. However, in 2022 he was prohibited from playing in Australia due to his vaccination status.
Whilst he is hungry for more silverware, the 24-time Grand Slam champion isn’t too concerned about his recent title drought. The last tournament he triumphed at was the ATP Finals in Turin last November.
“I’m used to really high standards in terms of expectations of the results, so not having a title compared with the last 15 years is not a great season at all.” He said.
“But I had semis of Australia, semis here (in Monte Carlo). I only played three tournaments this year so it’s normal to expect that you have some seasons where you don’t start well, and this is the one.
“Hopefully I can pick up, in terms of results. I can build from here because I played some good tennis. Hopefully, in the next tournaments I’ll be able to play even better.”
Djokovic has opted to not play in any of the three tournaments taking place on the Tour next week. His next scheduled event will be the Madrid Masters which he has won three previous occasions.
