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Novak Djokovic clears the air on whether he’ll return to action before Roland Garros
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- Novak Djokovic clears the air on whether he’ll return to action before Roland Garros
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise defeat to Dino Prizmic in the second round of the Italian Open.
The world number one took the first set comfortably but started to look physically off the pace as the match went on, facing an opponent 18 years younger.
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Prizmic fought back, winning 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to hand Djokovic his third straight loss at this event.
Afterwards, Djokovic was asked about his plans and whether he intends to play another tournament before Roland-Garros gets underway.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Djokovic rules out any pre-French Open matches
Djokovic was then asked whether he expects to be fit in time for the French Open.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I hope so! Let’s see what happens.”
He was also asked if he’d play a warm-up event before heading to Roland Garros.
“No. This year, no,” Djokovic responded.
In 2025, Djokovic dropped his first matches at both the Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Open. Rather than head into Roland Garros without a win on clay that season, he entered the Geneva Open in Switzerland and ended up winning his 100th career title there.
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That run of form helped carry him through to the semi-finals in Paris later that year. Skipping Geneva this time around, there’s now a question about whether we’ll see him exit Roland Garros earlier than expected. But it may simply be that his camp is focusing on getting him physically right again after a season where injuries have been a clear concern.
Novak Djokovic admits his build-up to the Italian Open wasn’t “ideal”
Speaking after his defeat, Djokovic was honest about his struggles leading into the event.
“It’s not an ideal preparation, to be honest,” he said. “I don’t recall the last time I had in the last couple of years, a preparation where I didn’t have any kind of physical issues or health issues coming into the tournament. There’s always something.”
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The Serb also spoke about needing to accept this as part of where he is now in his career. “Kind of a new reality that I have to deal with. Yeah, it is frustrating,” he continued.
“At the same time, it’s my decision to still perform in that kind of state and conditions. It is what it is.”
After taking the first set 6-2, Djokovic struggled with his movement as Prizmic took control and turned things around. When asked what went wrong during that stretch, Djokovic declined to share specifics out of respect for his opponent.
The Serb did mention how much he appreciated being back in front of fans after playing without spectators due to COVID-19 restrictions earlier in 2025.
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