Djokovic doubts himself after eking by qualifiers
PARIS — Despite all of Novak Djokovic’s success over the years — the 12 major championships, the career Grand Slam, the time ranked No. 1 — he still finds himself searching for self-confidence these days.
That’s what an elbow injury and forced absence from the ATP Tour can do to a player.
Djokovic was reflective Wednesday after moving into the third round at the French Open by virtue of a self-described up-and-down performance in a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 victory over 155thranked Jaume Antoni Munar Clar of Spain. Both of Djokovic’s matches have been against qualifiers; neither win was particularly impressive.
“At the moment, I’m not playing at the level I wish to, but at the same time, I understand that it is the process that obviously takes time,” said Djokovic, whose seeding of No. 20 is his lowest at a Slam in 12 years. “And I’m trying to not give up.”
Djokovic sat out the last half of 2017 because of a painful right elbow, tried to return in January, then decided to have an operation in February.
Djokovic arrived at Roland Garros with a 10-7 record this season. He was at .500 until showing signs of a resurgence by getting to the Italian Open semifinals on red clay before losing to 10-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal.
“Best practice that you can have is a match. I haven’t had too many matches, and I really never thought that I’m going to be challenged in that way, mentally — that I need matches in order to get confidence. But obviously I’m learning something new, and, yeah, that’s the case,” said Djokovic, who hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since claiming his fourth in a row at the 2016 French Open.
“At times, I do lose maybe a comfort level on the court and confidence, and that’s something that I’m still building gradually, obviously,” he continued. “The more matches I play, the better it is. The more I win, of course, the better it is. Hopefully that can keep going.”