An injury has interfered with Djokovic’s preparation for the French Open, but he is slowly regaining his form in time to compete for his 23rd Grand Slam singles championship when the tournament begins on May 28.
Due to an elbow injury, Djokovic missed the most recent Madrid Open. Before that, he had already pulled out of the Monte Carlo and Bosnia and Herzegovina tournaments earlier than intended, which left him with not-so-great preparations for the French Open on clay courts.
After winning back-to-back championships in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain’s US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz has been in fantastic shape to challenge Novak Djokovic for the French Open. Alcaraz will replace Djokovic as the world’s top player when the rankings are updated the following week.
The 20-year-old, though, was shockingly defeated by Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan in the last 32 on Monday in Rome, becoming the tournament’s first early departure since October.
Even if the Serbian tennis legend wins the championship in Italy, he will still drop to world No.2, but his clay season will be back on track when he arrives in Paris. He was more confident against Norrie than he had been in the first two rounds, as he did benefit from the Briton’s 29-plus unforced errors.
He made no mention of the specific problem for which he had gotten treatment before the game but said “There was no need for panic.”
