21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has admitted that having an interrupted schedule was not ideal, but he found a way to take advantage of the situation. After winning Wimbledon, Djokovic missed the entire North American hard-court tour: the US Open and Masters events in Montreal and Cincinnati because he was not allowed to enter the United States and Canada as an unvaccinated foreigner.
While forcibly sidelined, Djokovic spent some quality time with his family and also worked on his tactics and techniques. When Djokovic returned to action, he captured back-to-back titles at the Tel Aviv Open and Astana Open.
A tennis season lasts 11 months, so Djokovic usually has only one month to work out the details of his game.
Djokovic on how he used the time off
In an interview with Eurosport, Djokovic explained how he made sure not to mess around while he was away.
“It is not an ideal calendar but those are the circumstances that I had to accept and face. I tried to use the time I had to rest and spend quality time with my family and work on my game. I liked the time I had to work on details in terms of tactics and technique, whatever it is, there is always something to work on, but in tennis we never have time because the season is very long and we play week after week in January at the end of November.
I used it in the best possible way and that has reflected positively on my game in the last two tournaments. I hope to continue with that career. I wanted to play here because I have done very well here in the past and coming to the ATP Finals you want to have more matches at the highest level, so hopefully I can have a great week here and finish the season in the best possible way. Djokovic told Eurosport. This week, Djokovic is competing at the Paris Masters, where he intends to defend his title.
