Djokovic plans next step to greatness
DUBAI: Novak Djokovic may have chosen an ideal place to clarify how to make use of what, he suggests, has become the happiest phase of his life.
The world number one returns to the ATP tour at one of the world’s most popular tournaments, the Dubai Open, starting on Monday, after capturing his eighth Grand Slam title in Australia last month and his first as a father and a husband.
“Everything has been going in such a positive direction in my life, so I try to live these moments with, you know, all my heart,” said Djokovic, who will try to ride these powerful emotions towards further success and perhaps to tennis greatness.
Winning the title a fifth time in Dubai next week, as he is favourite to do, should be a particularly pleasing experience at what the players have voted the best 500 category tournament for ten of the last 11 years.
But Djokovic wants more than that.
He wants to integrate what he learnt about himself in Melbourne to develop his game still further, with half an eye on his greatest aim, the French Open starting in May, the only Grand Slam title to have eluded him.
This is the most physical of the four majors, and one of Djokovic’s most important lessons may be how to prevent phases of “feeling weak”, which caused his unexpected time out during the Australian Open final - and how to deal with them if he can’t.
“I don’t think 20 or 30 minutes (feeling weak) is a major concern for the future,” Djokovic claimed.
“On the contrary, I think that being able to bounce back from that period of 20 minutes and finish the match the way I finished it can only serve as an encouraging fact.”
However it may well be a concern, not least because Djokovic modified his game in order to cope. - AFP