‘Hopefully by Paris’- Novak Djokovic Says the Illness He Had Should Clear Up Before French Open 2022

Novak Djokovic’s 2022 has been quite tumultuous. However, with most countries reviewing their vaccine mandates, things are looking more positive for the Serbian World No. 1. Recently, he participated in a tournament close to his heart, in his hometown of Belgrade. The Serbia Open saw the master somewhat back in form, with stretches of his brilliance punctuated with some lacklustre shot-making.

He lost the first sets of all the matches he played, and until the final against Andrey Rublev, he managed to win the next two sets fairly easily to consolidate a win. But the World No. 8 who went into the finals saying that he has nothing to lose, proved to be too much for the Serb.

Novak Djokovic hopes to be better by French Open

In the final yesterday, he managed to win the second set, in a tiebreaker, after Rublev saved five set points. But the third set saw the World No. 1 falter quite badly, with it ending in a 6-0 scoreline in the Russian’s favor. He spoke about his performance in the latter part of the match during the post-match ceremony as well as the press conference and apologized for how things had turned out.

Novak Djokovic said that he had been suffering from an illness that took a toll on his body. He also mentioned that he was feeling better with each passing day and that he was hoping for a complete recovery before the French Open.

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“Whether it is due to the illness that I had recently, or something like that, I don’t know, probably, but yeah. At least this kind of bad feeling physically came from the fourth match rather than the first match as it was in Monte Carlo, so… Things are progressing, slowly but surely. Again, Paris is the big goal, hopefully by Paris, I’ll be able to be fit and ready to fight,” he said.

Djokovic congratulates Rublev for his win

Djokovic has always been graceful even after tough losses, and as was the case yesterday as well. He congratulated Andrey Rublev for his win and said that Belgrade and Serbia love to have him there.

Rublev, who won his 11th title, was seen smiling at the kind words. He also asked him to come back next year, to successfully defend his title.

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