London: Novak Djokovic insists there will be no hangover from his painful French Open final defeat against Rafael Nadal as the world number one prepares to defend his Wimbledon title.
Djokovic has arrived at the All England Club in good spirits despite suffering his first grand slam final loss since 2010 as Nadal ended the Serb’s bid to hold all four majors at the same time.
The 25-year-old had beaten Nadal in the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open finals over the last 12 months, but he couldn’t continue that remarkable sequence at Roland Garros.
Although Djokovic concedes it was a shock to the system to walk off court a beaten man in Paris, he isn’t dwelling on the negatives and is already firmly focused on another successful Wimbledon.
“It’s behind me now,” Djokovic said. “I was so close and there was a slight disappointment after the match because I was aware of the chance that I had in Roland Garros.
“But the day after I felt good about my tournament because it was the first time I ever have been in the final. That’s something that made me satisfied,” adding that he feels he still has plenty of time to bag the title.
As well as losing in Paris against Nadal, he was also beaten by the left-hander in Monte Carlo and Rome.
Yet the Serb claims his rivalry with Nadal, and also Roger Federer, has played such a key role in his own improvement over the last few years that he will always relish testing himself against the best, regardless of the result.
“Of course, playing against both of them made me a better player,” he said.
“Just competing at this top level, I was going through a lot of emotions. I was going through the years of doubting if I could really win Grand Slams and overcome the challenges of Nadal and Federer.”
As a predominantly baseline player, Djokovic has always thrived on clay, but he has gradually managed to adapt to grass after initially disliking the faster surface.
Even so, he is convinced there should be longer than two weeks between the French Open and Wimbledon to give players time to adjust.
“We need an extra week because it would give especially the top players a little bit more time to get used to the surface.
“We will try to find the better solution and work for the better of the sport,” he said. (AFP)