On Eve of Nishikori Duel, This Player Offers Djokovic Support

Former world number 1, Novak Djokovic is on the road to rediscover his best form. The Serb’s victories have been balanced by the number of losses and he is hoping to tip the scales in favour of the former.

Djokivic endured a difficult start to 2018, undergoing a ‘small medical intervention’ on his elbow. He managed to pick up just 290 ranking points so far this season. There are also chances that he could fall outside the top-20. Not helping his cause is a nightmare first-round draw against Monte-Carlo finalist Kei Nishikori.

Meanwhile, fourth seed Juan Martin Del Potro has a first-round bye before his opening match. But the Argentine player spoke about Djokovic’s situation. He hopes that the two-time Madrid champion will come back to his best and make tennis ‘even more entertaining’.

‘I also had to face that situation because I also had a couple of injuries in the past,’ Del Potro said. ‘It’s not easy. It’s not something nice to suffer. ‘It’s not nice to see that you’re falling down in the rankings, that you’re not feeling as good as you’re used to feeling, because he’s always been really fit.

‘I think there are few players that can come back from injuries and be so good, be up in the rankings where they deserve to be. I think that Djokovic is one of those players. Also [Andy] Murray did it, [Stan] Wawrinka. There are not many more players that are capable of coming back from injury. I think that’s what’s going to happen.

He continued, ‘For me personally, I would like to see Djokovic come back in the place where he should be. Hopefully he’ll be able to do that because I really like him, I really support him. ‘I think it will not only be good for him but it will be good for the tennis world so that we can see again another great player, so we can see him fighting up there for Grand Slams, fighting for the No. 1 with all the top players. ‘We have great players. That will make tennis even more entertaining.’