WATCH: Novak Djokovic hits the clay ahead of Monte Carlo return
Novak Djokovic has been training on clay courts ahead of his return to the Monte Carlo Masters.
Djokovic has won the title in the principality on two occasions but he has suffered early exits on his last two visits.
He was denied entry to the United States for the Sunshine Double and returns in a bid to be in the best shape for the French Open.
Djokovic is out to win Grand Slams as a priority.
“Right now, it’s Grand Slams and longevity,” Djokovic told CNN. “We focus on ambitions, achievements and goals, which is of course super important, but I always try to remind myself about and talk about my passion and love for the game.
“There is no pressure to keep going. Right now, I’m celebrating my 20th year in professional tennis so I’m experienced enough and have achieved enough, but at the same time, what is enough? It’s never enough and you always want to do more, so I have that mentality.”
Seven-time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander believes that Djokovic is playing the percentages.
He backed Djokovic to win at least one Grand Slam every year until his retirement.
“I think he’s playing a percentage game right now,” Wilander told Eurosport.
“With longevity, that means he’s going to win another two to five Grand Slam titles because his average is obviously more than one Grand Slam victory per year.
“I think he’s up at 1.3 or 1.4 Grand Slam victories a year since the first day that he won the Australian Open.
“I think he knows ‘if I just stay healthy, I’m going to have my opportunities and I’m going to be winning more Slams’, whether it’s at Wimbledon, whether it’s even at Roland-Garros, of course, the Australian Open, and then as well at the US Open.
“Longevity means, ‘hey, guys, I’m not old, I feel young’. He looks young, and he’s going to be winning majors as long as he’s healthy.
“He’s going to win, on average, one Grand Slam title per year that he still keeps playing. I think that’s what he’s telling us.”
He believes Novak Djokovic owes some of his determination to the hoops Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer made him jump through.
“There is no way that Novak Djokovic would have had that same drive, ambition maybe, motivation, without Federer and Nadal,” Wilander added.
“You have to be motivated to get up every single day and practise really hard and look after yourself.
“Then you have to try and win every single match the whole year in your whole career because that’s what Roger and Rafa did.
“I think Novak has proven that not only does he have ambitions to be the best of all time, he’s motivated big time to be the best of all time, but at the same time, he loves his job and he wants to keep playing for a long time.”
The article WATCH: Novak Djokovic hits the clay ahead of Monte Carlo return appeared first on Tennis365.com.
