Novak Djokovic: Greg Rusedski reveals French Open title concern

That is the view of former British No 1 and Amazon Prime pundit Greg Rusedski.

Djokovic is in semi-final action at the Madrid Open today against Dominic Thiem with a potential final against Rafael Nadal to come.

The world No 1 has looked more like his old self this week in Madrid and he enjoys playing in Rome where the Italian Open takes place next week.

The Serbian will be the top seed when the French Open gets underway at the end of the month but 11-time champion Rafael Nadal will be the favourite going into Roland Garros and Thiem is being strongly tipped to go deep in Paris.

Speaking ahead of Djokovic’s clash with Thiem in Madrid, Rusedski called on the 15-time Grand Slam champion to regain his focus.

“Novak has got to focus on what he does best which is tennis,” Rusedski said.

“Rafa is not happy with himself right now having not won a title. But you see him working towards that and getting closer and closer to his best.

“With Novak, we still don’t know where he is leading into the French [Open] and he is leaving it very late.”

When the French Open starts, Djokovic will be playing to become the first man in the Open Era to win all four Grand Slams on two occasions.

And the 31-year-old is well aware of what is at stake and is humbled by the opportunity to rewrite history.

“I think I’m approaching it with more experience now. I’m approaching it with less additional pressure,” he said.

“I say “additional” because the pressure is already there. I mean, it’s normal in a way.

“I had additional pressure from my side because of anticipation, you know, to win in Roland Garros in 2015 and ’16. So, it’s in God’s hands.

“If it happens, I think I will be dealing with it definitely much different than three years ago.

“But there’s still a long way to it. I have Madrid and Rome.

“They are big tournaments and I need to up my game on clay for sure if I want to get a chance to win Roland Garros.”

source: express.co.uk