Djokovic Eyeing Wimbledon Response

It was 2018 the last time Novak Djokovic headed to Wimbledon without having won either the Australian Open or the French Open earlier in the year.

After missing out on the Aussie Open in Melbourne and losing out to Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, Djokovic will be going for his first Grand Slam title of 2022 at the All-England Club.

Djokovic Will Learn From Paris Exit

While a defeat to rival Nadal will have come as a major source of disappointment for Djokovic, the world number one has shown throughout his career how he responds to failure. Nadal emerged as the new favorite for the title after the match for anyone looking to bet on French Open markets as he came out on top 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4). In what was a tough contest that finished at 01:15 in Paris, Djokovic admitted it was his Spanish rival who fully deserved his place in the last four of the Grand Slam event.

The clay surface has never been Djokovic’s favored court, having only won two French Open titles compared to Nadal’s 13 leading into the 2022 tournament. It still won’t sit right with the extremely competitive Djokovic that he lost the quarter-final after putting himself in some promising positions in the match. Nonetheless, the Serbian star will have to learn from the defeat and his focus will have already switched to the last two Grand Slams of the year at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Perhaps A Positive Omen

As mentioned, the last time Djokovic failed to win either the Australian Open or French Open was back in 2018, which happened to be the year he went on to win both the Wimbledon and the US Open titles. Defeats and looking to silence his doubters have been motivating factors for Djokovic in the past and are partly the reason why he has spent more time at the top of the men’s world rankings than any other player in the sport’s history.

Djokovic has an impressive six Wimbledon titles already to his name and is the reigning champion going into this year’s tournament at SW19. The 35-year-old managed to overcome Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3 in the final at the All-England Club to claim what was his third Grand Slam title of 2021. Ultimately, Djokovic was to fall agonizingly short of a clean sweep of the slams through the year, as he was to be beaten by Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final. That was a tough defeat to take and his exit from the French Open this year is likely to have added further fuel to the fire before Wimbledon and the US Open.

Even approaching the end of his career, Djokovic still looks to be the man to beat. With the determination to silence his critics and lessons learned from Paris, the world number one will take some stopping to be denied titles in London and New York later this year.