PARIS.- “I’m half a step late,” he admitted. Novak Djokovicwho turns 39 on Friday, two days after starting in Roland Garros searching for his record of 25 Grand Slams. Hampered by injuries in recent months, the French great faces the signing of Viktor Troicki as a coach.
The Serbian suffers more and more injuries that damage his mythical resistance, given the growth of younger and physically explosive rivals.
The unknown is whether the lack of physical freshness will affect his mentality, the philosopher’s stone of his mythical career.
Djokovic admitted that he would have liked to spend more time on clay before reaching Paris.
“It is not the ideal preparation”
He has only played three tournaments in 2026 and lost his only match on land against the Croatian Dino Prizmiccoming from the previous phase, in the Rome Masters 1000 of this month.
Djokovic dropped out of the tournaments Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid while dealing with a shoulder injury, and during his brief stay in the Italian capital he was seen wearing bandages.
“To be honest, it is not the ideal preparation,” acknowledged ‘Nole’, who will be the third seed at Ronald Garros.
“I don’t remember the last time, in recent years, that I had a preparation in which there was not some type of physical or health problem when arriving at the tournament. There is always something. It is a kind of new reality that I have to deal with,” acknowledged the Serbian.
It is the frank confession of a player who has built his career on meticulous planning, but who is faced with the realities of an aging body, as happened to them before. Roger Federerand to a greater extent Rafael Nadal.
But Djokovic’s record at Roland Garros underscores why he can’t be ruled out. The absence of the reigning champion, two-time winner, Carlos Alcarazis another factor in its favor.
Triple champion in Paris and one of the few players who knew how to make life difficult for Nadal on this surface, Djokovic has reached at least the quarterfinals in each edition of the Parisian Grand Slam since a third round defeat in 2009.
“I’m not where I want to be”
But the physical demands of clay court are unforgiving, and Djokovic is aware of the havoc that age causes on the performance of elite tennis players: “I’m half a step late. I’m definitely not where I want to be for the highest level, to compete at the highest level and be able to go far.”
Recent seasons have also highlighted the growing challenge of maintaining maximum effort and concentration during two demanding weeks of a Grand Slam. Parties that once leaned in their favor now demand sustained excellence from the first point to the last.
His preparation, as he himself openly acknowledges, has limits. “I train hard. I train as much as my body allows me to,” he said. “Then how things go on the court is really unpredictable.”
However, Djokovic is one of the only two men who have managed to beat the big favorite for the title this season, a Jannik Sinner on a roll, which he cut short before the final of the Australian Openwhich he later lost to Alcaraz.
Djokovic offered what he called one of his best matches in the last decade to beat the Italian in five sets in January, motivated by those who had already written him off.
“I never stopped doubting. I never stopped believing in myself,” the former world number one said then.
“There are many people who doubt me. I see that, suddenly, there are many experts who have wanted to withdraw me or who have removed me many times in recent years,” he launched.
“I want to thank you all, because you gave me strength. You gave me motivation to prove them wrong.”
Djokovic has not won a Grand Slam since US Open 2023but it would be a mistake to underestimate him. On Wednesday he announced that his former teammate in Paris will accompany him as head coach. Davis CupTroicki, former world number 12.
