Novak Djokovic is certainly short of match practice this season. His lack of match fitness was clearly evident in his three-set loss against Alejandro Davidovich  Fokina at the recently concluded Monte Carlo Masters. After missing the Australian Open, he hardly played any tournament over the past few months. Despite his return to the tour in Monaco last week, he was evidently struggling physically more than anything else. Determined to turn around the situation in the lead-up to the French Open where he is the defending champion, Djokovic is in his home country to take part at the Serbia Open this week. Interestingly, he postponed his pre-tournament press conferences and opened up about the reasons for the same.

Novak Djokovic was too tired to attend the press conference

20-time Grand Slam winner, Novak Djokovic aiming for resurgence, will kickstart his campaign at the Serbia Open in his Round-of-16 clash . As he’s looking for a winning start at his home tournament, he is practicing really hard. Of course, his long-term goal for this year’s clay season is to do well at the French Open. That’s why he has been putting some extra effort into doing well in the Serbian Open. 

As a result, he missed the pre-tournament press conference because he was simply too tired.

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After postponing his presser, the 20-time Grand Slam winner revealed, “I’m sorry about that. I had four practices – twice fitness, twice tennis – so I was really tired. I need all the matches I can get here in order to prepare even better for Roland Garros.”

Notably, Djokovic suffered a semifinal exit at the Serbia Open last year, losing to Aslan Karatsev in the semifinals.

Novak’s horrible year

Novak Djokovic was denied entry into Australia and the US earlier this year owing to his vaccination status. Subsequently, he not only missed the Australian Open but also could not feature at the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Masters last month.

The Serb suffered a shocking quarterfinal exit against Jiri Vesely in Dubai earlier this February before succumbing to first round exit in Monaco last week.

Djokovic enters the Serbia Open as the top seed and should be hopeful of a decent run in his home tournament.

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Putting his disappointments behind him, can Novak Djokovic bounce back in Belgrade? It will be intriguing to witness Djokovic’s run at the Serbia Open.