‘It’s difficult to get into my rhythm on clay’ – Novak Djokovic on why he wants a run in Monte-Carlo

World No 1 Novak Djokovic had to step up his level in the second set against Ivan Gakhov to win 7-6 (5), 6-2 in his opening match of the clay-court swing in Monte-Carlo.

And he explained to the press afterwards that a deep run this week is essential for him to be in prime form ahead of Roland-Garros.

“Clay surface for me is the most challenging surface to adapt, you know, to get into the rhythm,” he said.

“Historically, I mean, throughout my career I needed one, two weeks of tournaments to really start to play the way I want to play. So, you know, it’s the case again this year, you know, even though I trained for three weeks and I felt good playing practice points, but, you know, it’s different when you play a match, especially, you know, today was quite windy on the court so not easy to find the rhythm, to have the ball right, the ball toss, and playing a lefty, playing someone that has not much to lose. All these things are playing a factor in the way you feel on the court.

“I’m really glad I overcome the first step, because I hope things will be better and easier from this point onwards.”

Djokovic: I need match play

Asked to elucidate on why he thought it took more for him to adapt on clay, Djokovic could not add any elaboration, reiterating that it was just his game, with other players finding it easier.

“With clay it’s just different than other surfaces. It takes slightly more. Match play is what I need. Practice points is something that helps, but nothing helps as playing an official match. So that’s why I’m hoping I can have as many matches as possible this week.”

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