"I don't want to open Pandora's Box" - Novak Djokovic refuses to delve into poor form in 2024 season until French Open
Novak Djokovic is about to begin his 2024 French Open campaign without winning any tournament over the course of the year. The Serb has made a few changes to his coaching team recently but refused to explain what has caused his disappointing recent run of form.
The World No. 1 has participated in five tournaments this season and he has reached three semifinals. Djokovic played and lost in the last-four stage of the Australian Open, the Indian Wells Masters, and the Geneva Open.
Most recently, Djokovic was ousted from the Geneva Open by eventual runner-up Tomas Machac on Friday (May 24).
The Serb has changed his fitness trainer and parted ways with Goran Ivanisevic. Gebhard Gritsch trains Djokovic now. Whether these changes affected his recent run of form is unknown but the 24-time Grand Slam winner is hoping for a good result in Paris.
"It’s various things that were happening in the last couple of months, but I don’t want to get into it," Djokovic told the media of his current form.
"I don’t want to open Pandora’s Box and talk about things. What has happened, happened, and it’s in the past. It’s something that I can’t (let) affect anymore, but I can kind of learn to rectify certain things and right the certain things that are wrong and really not serving the purpose of my highest performance level."
The Serb explained that he and his team have been working on their faults as a team and hope to see results.
"That’s what we have been working on as a team, and hopefully it will give us good results here.”
"Anything but a title for me is not satisfactory" - Novak Djokovic on his expectations at the French Open 2024
Novak Djokovic is the defending champion at this year's French Open. He defeated Casper Ruud last year in the final to win the Claycourt Slam. Even with his recent run of form, the Serb says anything less than final day triumph in Paris is unsatisfactory for him.
“I almost feel a bit embarrassed to say what my expectations are. Anything but a title for me is not satisfactory. It always has been like that. I know it might sound arrogant to a lot of people, but I think I have a career that backs it up."
He explained that he is hoping to take a more day-by-day approach to the tournament instead of thinking further in the future. Djokovic will begin his title defense against Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round on Tuesday (May 28).