Former British No. 1 Greg Rusedski expects Novak Djokovic to arrive to Roland Garros well prepared despite a slow start to the clay season.
Last week, world No. 1 Djokovic suffered a shock loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his Monte Carlo opener.
This week, Djokovic is the top-seeded player in Belgrade as he is hoping to clinch a few wins and find his game and rhythm.
Rusedski acknowledged that a great player like Djokovic can’t lose his class and that it’s just the matter of time the Serb gets back into his groove.
“It doesn’t matter how he wins. He just needs to win matches even if it’s ugly, six in the third [set]. If he wins the tournament in Belgrade, welcome back,” Rusedski told Amazon Prime.
“You don’t lose class. You miss match sharpness but winning becomes a habit. He needs to get back on the train again.
“Whether that’s next week or the week after, but he’ll be ready to defend his (French Open) title.”
Djokovic focused on preparing well for the French Open
After Belgrade, Djokovic has the Masters events in Madrid and Rome on his schedule.
Last year, Djokovic played in Belgrade the week before the French Open and ended up winning both Belgrade and Roland Garros.
Djokovic hasn’t ruled out playing the week before Roland Garros this year as well.
“Roland Garros is the quintessential clay-court tournament and I’m partly already there in my thoughts, in terms of preparation and everything I’m doing at the moment to get there as ready as I can be,” Djokovic said.
“My current plans include Madrid and Rome.
“It depends, really, on my results here and the shape I’m in. We’ll decide then.
“I had never before played a tournament in the week ahead of Roland Garros but last year I decided to do just that.
“Because it was Belgrade and I needed the feeling that the audience is the wind beneath my wings. It came true, I won the tournament, and it turned out I made a good decision ahead of the French Open.”