Novak Djokovic‘s final preparations for the 2024 Roland Garros hit a snag. It seems that his attempt to make it to his first final of the 2024 season was derailed at the Geneva Open by an unexpected loss to Machac. Adding salt to the wound, the renowned coach of Coco Gauff recently made fun of the top-ranked tennis player’s arriving in “Paris without a tournament 🏟️ title.”

Brad Gilbert recently took to his Twitter handle to poke fun at Djokovic’s tennis run until now. He wrote, “Wow, crazy 🤪 Djoker will arrive in Paris without a tournament 🏟️ title  🏆 after losing in semis of Geneva to Machac.” At the end of the 2023 season in Turin, the world No. 1 finished the season with an unprecedented seventh ATP Finals trophy, shattering Roger Federer‘s previous record of six. This was the culmination of his trip to the final. But in the six months that followed, Djokovic went through his longest title drought since 2017–2018, going 11 months without making a final appearance.

In the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters, he lost to Casper Ruud for the first time, and his dreams of winning an 11th Australian Open were shattered by eventual winner Jannik Sinner. To make matters worse, the 37-year-old tennis player was forced to retire from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia due to a water bottle that gave him symptoms similar to a concussion.

In an attempt to gain an advantage over Roland Garros, Djokovic chose to take a wild card into the ATP 250 in Geneva. This strategic tactic paid off in 2021 when he ended a five-month title drought in Belgrade and went on to win his second trophy in Paris. However, even the world’s number one is not happy with the situation surrounding his French Open participation. After exiting the Geneva Open semi-final, he shared his growing concerns regarding the same.

Novak Djokovic is “worried” about not “playing good at all this year”

Days before the grand tournament, Djokovic lost to the 44th-ranked Czech player, raising doubts about his capacity to retain his French Open crown. He said, “Of course I’m worried. I haven’t been playing good at all this year. I’ve had some good matches here and there but it is what it is. You have to accept it. I don’t consider myself a favorite there. I’m going to take it match by match and see how far I can go.”

The 37-year-old tennis star’s first-round opponent at Roland Garros is expected to be Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France. This encounter takes place in the midst of his extraordinary title drought; since 2018. Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on the rising concern over his clay court participation? Do let us know in the comment section below.