Djokovic goes into Rome with questions to answer

Defending men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic begins his campaign in Rome with some unfamiliar question-marks floating over his head.

First of all, is he fit? He said in April that his right elbow was not “ideal”, having worn strapping on it in Monte-Carlo.

Second of all, is he on form? He has not played since losing in the Banja Luka quarter-finals to Dusan Lajovic, and prior to that had only two wins on clay this season (with two defeats).

That might be something that he’s thinking about – he has not had such a limited clay season with such mixed results before.

In contrast, just before he won the title in Rome last year and went on a nine-match winning streak that took him to the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros, he had six match wins on clay (with three losses), losing in the Belgrade final to Andrey Rublev, and the Madrid semi-finals to Carlos Alcaraz. Unable to defend those Madrid points this year, he will drop down to world No 2 when the next edition of the rankings are published in two weeks’ time, even if he defends his title in the Italian capital.

However, he may take some heart from what happened in 2021, when he had a six-week break between winning the Australian Open and starting his clay swing in Monte-Carlo. Before his run to the final in Rome, he had only three match wins and two losses – and of course after Rome he went to Roland-Garros and won the title.

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Leaving aside the Covid-affected 2020 season, Djokovic’s form on clay in 2019 was impressive: a quarter-final in Monte-Carlo and the title in Madrid (seven wins and one defeat ahead of Rome). He lost in the final of Rome to Rafael Nadal, and then the semi-final of Roland-Garros to Dominic Thiem.

Djokovic’s fans will be reassured by the fact that their favourite can never be counted out, and that he has achieved super-human feats many times before. That’s just as well. This year in Rome, if the seeds hold, he will have to overcome Grigor Dimitrov (in round three), Cameron Norrie (in the round of 16), Holger Rune (in the quarter-final) and Casper Ruud (in the semi-final). They might all have had variable seasons thus far as well, but the man he may face in the final is enjoying a superlative one – Carlos Alcaraz.

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