ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2024

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

N. DJOKOVIC/P.-H. Herbert

6-4, 7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Novak, after what you said the other day, I'd like to ask you whether there was anything about your performance today that would lead you to alter your expectations one way or another?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, I still stay with it. Monte-Carlo, Rome, and Geneva tournaments started really well for me. First matches I played were great. Then second matches, third matches (smiling) was quite different. So I don't want to get too excited.

I thought it was a good performance for me, solid. Of course I could have done better, I think, on return games, but also credit to him for serving very well, for changing things up, for seeing every time I would step back for second serve, you know, give him a little bit different look, he would see that, he would come in.

His kick is tremendous. Honestly, one of the best kick serves I have faced. Very talented, mixing things up. He can come to the net, just very crafty with his hands.

So, yeah, it's a straight-set win. In the moments when it mattered I think I delivered, played a great tiebreak, stayed focused.

I'm glad that I started the way I started, the way I felt on the court. Comparing to, you know, the previous weeks of tournaments I played, I felt good, better. So I'm moving in a positive direction.

Yeah, it's just the beginning.

Q. Can you give us a read on your enjoyment level out there? Are you having fun?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, honestly, here much more than basically any other tournament this year that I played except Australia, you know. Even Australia was kind of, a sense of a bit of an uphill battle in terms of how I was feeling on the court.

Again, this is only one match here. So we have to see, see how I progress in the tournament, how the feeling evolves, but it was good.

You know, I was fist pumping, I was focused, I was there, I was present. So I'm pleased with the way at least I behaved or had a mindset on the court. That was something that I was looking for. And where are you going to feel that way if not in Grand Slams (smiling)?

So it's something that I have been saying from the beginning of the year and from the last whatever years that Grand Slams are the ones that are basically getting me up from the bed every day and knowing that I have to hit the practice courts. I always think about what I can do in Grand Slams.

So here I am. Hopefully I can have another deep run.

Q. We saw you yesterday at the stadium watching Nadal's game. What did you see there? What can you say about his game? It looks like he wants to keep playing '25. What can you say about that too?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, it looks like. I think he played very well comparing to what we saw from his performance in -- where was it? -- in Rome and where he played in Barcelona, I think he played really on a much higher level. Even though he lost in the straight sets, second and third were really close. He could have easily won one of those two sets, and maybe the match was going in a different direction.

But he was a bit unlucky with the draw, because Zverev, he is in a great form, winning Rome, and he was serving extremely well. It's tough to play Sascha when he's feeling the ball so well.

But it was great to watch. I don't recall last time I actually watched a set of any match live on that level, other than Davis Cup, of course, matches. It was great. I saw, you know, Iga was there, Alcaraz was there, and we all wanted to get, I guess, a glimpse of the atmosphere, you know, of that possibly unique moment, you know, that could be his last.

But it doesn't appear like that.