“Right now I feel perfect” – Novak Djokovic is right where he needs to be ahead of Roland-Garros title defence

The first three months of the season (or non-season in Novak Djokovic‘s case) are finally in the rearview mirror, and now Novak Djokovic is back into full swing on the ATP Tour and setting his sights on the biggest clay-court title in tennis.

After claiming his first title of 2022 in Rome on Sunday with a 6-0, 7-6(5) win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, the world No 1 professed relief that he has come so far so fast over the last month and a half.

“To some extent it’s a relief because after everything that happened at the beginning of the year, was important for me to win a big title, especially with Grand Slams coming up where obviously I want to play my best and be at the level of confidence I think more than just the game, where I want to be in order to have a chance to win the title,” he said after claiming his record 38th Masters 1000 title and 87th overall.

Djokovic: It’s the perfect prep for Paris

Djokovic claimed his sixth title on familiar stomping grounds at Rome, and his confidence is at the maximum after a week that saw him win every set contested as he took out three top 10 players (Auger-Aliassime, Ruud, Tsitsipas) in his last three matches.

The soon to be 35-year-old says that even though he was limited to just one tournament before April due to his controversial decision to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, it feels normal for him to hit his peak in mid May.

I knew I’m kind of player, particularly on clay, that needs more time, at least three, four weeks to get to the desired level.

Novak Djokovic

“I couldn’t ask for a better week really,” he said. “Played a perfect set today. Didn’t drop a set the whole tournament. I trusted the process really when I started training on clay. I knew that even though I did not have tournaments prior to Monte-Carlo, I still felt rusty on the court. I knew I’m kind of player, particularly on clay, that needs more time, at least three, four weeks to get to the desired level. Historically that’s always been the case.

“I usually peak here in Rome. I’ve had six titles but also had a lot of finals, semifinals. Always a really good week of tennis with a lot of matches, competitiveness on the court. Anything that I was really looking for here in Rome I got. It’s the perfect kind of preparation and lead-up to Roland Garros.”

No health issues – “I feel perfect”

By winning in Rome in stunning fashion Djokovic has put to rest any notion of him not being ready to raise the bar physically this spring. After struggling to find his stamina in Monte-Carlo and Belgrade, Djokovic says he has turned the page on those worries.

“I think physically I really felt really good from Madrid onwards,” he said. “Already there I felt like the physical issues that I was facing in Monte-Carlo and Serbia are behind me. I put in a lot of fitness hours between Serbia and Madrid. I had a week of training.

“I knew that it wasn’t something related to my fitness, it was more related to the health issue, the illness I had just before the Monte-Carlo tournament. It turned out to be correct. I didn’t have any fitness issues. It was just those traces of the illness that I had. Right now I feel perfect.”

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