Novak Djokovic has admitted he wants to boost his sport significantly forward of the French Open subsequent month after struggling a shock quarter-final defeat by Dusan Lajovic on the Srpska Open in Banja Luka on Friday.
The world primary was removed from his finest as he misplaced 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) to the Seventieth-ranked Lajovic, having beforehand dropped simply 4 video games throughout two earlier conferences together with his Serbian compatriot.
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“I was many levels below what I want,” mentioned Djokovic, who transformed solely one in every of 16 break factors and let three set factors slip within the second-set tie-break.
“Playing like that, I can’t win against opponents who are so solid on this surface. But what can I do? It’s simply sport. I was trying but it wasn’t working.
“I didn’t feel very good physically on court. My legs were slow, I missed a lot of balls. I played well at times, but generally well below standard.”
With Rafael Nadal’s standing for Roland Garros unsure and Carlos Alcaraz additionally working his means again from harm, Djokovic is focusing on a file twenty third males’s Grand Slam title on the French Open.
But his kind since returning to motion after lacking tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami final month over his refusal to get a Covid-19 vaccination is trigger for concern.
He has additionally alluded to an issue together with his elbow, which hampered him throughout his last-16 loss in Monte Carlo final week and was “not in ideal condition” in Banja Luka.
Djokovic is a two-time French Open champion, ending runner-up on 4 events as effectively, and hopes to shake off the rust with two key warm-up occasions nonetheless on the schedule in Madrid and Rome.
“For Roland Garros, it’s not a secret. It’s the tournament where I want to play my best tennis and I’m working on it,” he mentioned.
“The conditions there are completely different to those in Monte Carlo and Banja Luka. “There’s still quite a few weeks to play and to train.
“In past seasons (on clay), it’s always been a bit like that: a bad start, slow, and then a better game towards the end of the clay. I hope that will be the case this time too.”
As for Lajovic, whose lone ATP title got here on clay in Umag in 2019, he’ll tackle Miomir Kecmanovic — a 7-5, 6-0 winner over Jiri Lehecka — within the final 4 on Saturday.
“I’m overwhelmed,” mentioned the 32-year-old Lajovic. “It’s the biggest win of my career. Beating him (Djokovic) is something I didn’t even think was possible, but it happened.”
Andrey Rublev secured his place within the semi-finals after recovering from a poor begin to beat Bosnian wildcard Damir Dzumhur 7-5, 6-3.
Rublev, who received his first Masters title in Monte Carlo final week, trailed the 202nd-ranked Dzumhur 5-2 within the opening set earlier than saving a set level and profitable 5 video games on the bounce.
The second seed was once more below strain as he fought off 4 break factors early within the second set, however steadied himself as soon as extra and grabbed the important thing break within the fifth sport.
“We’ve always had tough battles and today was the same. I was lucky I was able to come back,” mentioned Rublev, now unbeaten in 5 matches in opposition to Dzumhur.
Rublev’s reward for extending his profitable run to seven matches is a semi-final in opposition to Slovakia’s Alex Molcan, the world quantity 73 who beat Laslo Djere of Serbia in three units.
Source: www.news.com.au
