Novak Djokovic (36, Serbia, world No. 1), who returned to the court after recovering from an injury, will push himself out and regain world No. 1 Carlos Alkaras (20, Spain, world No. 2) above) was praised.
Djokovic will challenge for a second straight title at the Men’s Professional Tennis (ATP) Tour Italy Rome Open (Internazionali BNL d’Italia메이저놀이터), which is currently underway in Rome, Italy.
As the top seed, he passed the first round with a bye. On the morning of the 13th, Korean time, Djokovic will play the second round with Thomas Martin Echeverri (24, Argentina, 61st in the world).
Ahead of his first fight, Djokovic opened up about his current physical condition and Al Karas, who are competing for world number one.
Djokovic was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the Sprska Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Sprska Republic last month. “The condition of his right elbow is not ideal,” he said ahead of the event. Eventually, he gave up participating in the ATP Tour Masters 1000 Series Madrid Open.
After returning from the Rome Open, he is improving his condition. He said, “(My body condition) is all good and everything is fine. Considering that I am no longer 25 years old, I think it will take a little longer to recover.”
But I feel good and miss the competition. I have always loved playing in Roma. I have had a lot of success in this competition and have won several times,” he added.
Having won this event last year, he will challenge for his 7th win in his personal career.
Djokovic also admits that getting used to clay takes longer than on other courts.
“Every bounce is a little bit different. The ball bounces erratically and the wind is also affected. A number of factors come into play and you have to deal with a lot more than any other surface,” he explains.
Djokovic struggled on clay courts compared to hard and grass courts. However, he won 18 tournaments held on clay courts alone and reached the top six times at the Rome Open in Italy.
Alcaras, the second seed in the event, won last week’s Madrid Open. Having reached the top for the fourth time this season, he overtook Djokovic (5785 points) with 6780 points in the real-time world rankings.
When the Rome Open comes to an end, Alkaras will beat Djokovic in the newly announced world rankings and regain the world number one.
Djokovic praised Alkaras, saying, “No matter what happens, he (Alkaras) will become world No. 1 after this tournament. Of course he deserves it.” “Alkaras has played tennis at a very impressive level. Without a doubt, he is a strong player on this ground.”
Djokovic and Alkaras must both make it to the finals for a head-to-head match. The two met once in the semifinals of last year’s Madrid Open. In this match, Alkaras won 2-1 (6-7<5-7> 7-5 7-6<7-5>).
“We only faced each other once, at the Madrid Open last year. If we ever get a chance to meet in Rome, it will be the final,” Djokovic said. “he said.
Meanwhile, TV channels SPOTV and SPOTV ON, and sports OTT service SPOTV NOW broadcast live satellites of major matches of the ATP Tour Italy Rome Open. It will also be broadcast live on SPOTV ASIA (Spotv Asia). Sporty Asia is a channel broadcasting to 13 countries in Southeast Asia, and shows the tennis grand slam tournaments Wimbledon and the US Open, men’s professional tennis ATP tour, motorcycle racing competition MotoGP (GP), WTT (World Table Tennis) table tennis tournament,