Novak Djokovic played relatively well at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters, but Andy Roddick is more concerned with his physical state than his tennis.
The 24-time major winner played only his third tournament of the year in Monte Carlo. That’s not a lot of tournaments, and the season is already in April. Djokovic lamented his bad play so far more than once, and it doesn’t seem like he’s found the solution yet.
His performance last week has been better than before, but it is nowhere near his best. Former ATP player Roddick has some other concerns, not necessarily his tennis.
The tennis side of things will not generally be a problem, but the body could become an issue for Djokovic as he’s in a race against time. Nobody wins against time, and Djokovic won’t either.
As superhuman as he is, he’s getting older, and the more time passes, the more challenging it will become. That’s what concerns Roddick because he doesn’t think Djokovic looks the same physically.
“The physical stuff, I don’t know what it is, but it’s concerning. You don’t see someone who’s exhausted early, gain on it throughout the match. I don’t know what that is. In the first set, he looked exhausted, the rally would go past seven or eight balls and he was physically exhausted. We’re talking a 72° (F) day, 2,3-all in the first set or just a break down early and then he kind of found his pacing, came back.”
As Roddick pointed out, the conditions weren’t extreme in any way, but Djokovic still struggled quite rarely during the match. He might not be in match shape, which makes sense as he didn’t play a lot this year, but it’s more than that for Roddick.
He watched him the entire week and didn’t really see the things that make Djokovic who he is.
“Then in the last game, he misses a first ball, misses a high volley by seven or eight feet. So, it was like, you’re supposed to know what’s going to happen based on history and it just didn’t. It felt like he was searching for something whole week.”
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