By Novak Djokovic’s French Open preparations are raising alarm bells, as Andy Roddick says this is the most concerned he has been about the Serb in 15 years. The world No. 1 suffered an uncharacteristic early exit at the Italian Open last weekend and has not been beyond the semi-final of any tournament this year. While Djokovic is usually usually able to find his best level at Grand Slams, Roddick believes his recent losses are “weird”.
Djokovic is still seeking his first trophy of 2024 as he heads into the French Open, where he is the defending champion. The Serb has been struggling for form this season and has limited his schedule, playing four regular singles events and the United Cup team tournament.
He has a 12-5 record for the year, with his latest defeat coming at the Italian Open, where he lost his second match 6-2 6-3 to Alejandro Tabilo in just 67 minutes. Djokovic looked flat during the match and later admitted that he didn’t feel like himself. It has sparked fears for Roddick, who is worried about Djokovic going into the French Open.
“I’m more concerned about his tennis game than I have been in probably like 15 years,” the American said on his Served podcast. While it wouldn’t be unusual for Djokovic to go and win a Grand Slam with minimal preparation, Roddick thinks things are different this time.
He continued: “Knowing that maybe he just needs a bunch of us saying that, the kind of me against the world mentality that he has mastered over the course of his career. So, it wouldn’t surprise me if he played well at Roland Garros.
“But, how long can we say, he’ll turn it around? Like, no, he’ll just definitely turn around. He’s fine. He’s Novak. Like, I’ve been saying that the entire year. This one was weird. I thought he would, the ramp up, you’re looking at the French Open, you’re looking ahead towards Wimbledon, he said he’s prioritised the Olympics. You felt like the ramp up was coming and what he’s kind of done before and that wasn’t a ramp up.”
Addressing Djokovic’s defeat to the world No. 32, he added: “[He] comes out against Tabilo and doesn’t look like Novak at all. Loses two and three, and it might not have been that close, He got broken four times. Three of the four times that he got broken, he double faulted on break point, which is weird.”
It’s not the only concerning defeat that the 24-time Grand Slam champion has faced this year. Even when he has gone deep in a tournament, Roddick has found reasons to worry about Djokovic. “I’m not one to get carried away with like a given result. But on a five month sample size or a six month sample size, he got beat pretty good against Sinner [at the Australian Open],” the 2003 US Open winner said.
“It was four sets, but it was like the first two were quick. He snuck out and then the fourth set was downhill. Lost to Demon, United Cup before that four and four, which is a pretty, that’s a straightforward win in professional tennis. Loses to Nardi at Indian Wells, which is strange. He goes all that way in 10 days of prep and the whole thing and then loses.”
Djokovic did enjoy his best result at the Monte-Carlo Masters in nine years by reaching the semi-final but there were still alarm bells for Roddick. He continued: “And then in Monte Carlo, he makes the semis, which for the rest of us dummies is like, it’s the best result I ever had at a Masters 1000 on clay.
“Loses to Ruud for the first time ever, had never lost a set to Ruud before that match. But more concerning was struggling with breathing. His match against Demon [in the quarter-final]. He was struggling for air. Early in matches, like 20, 25, 30 minutes in.”
