{"id":1946659,"date":"2026-05-21T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T03:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1946659"},"modified":"2026-05-21T06:00:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T03:00:51","slug":"novak-djokovic-made-to-eat-his-own-words-as-french-open-return-nears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1946659","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic made to eat his own words as French Open return nears"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Novak Djokovic made to eat his own words as French Open return nears<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/tennis365\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Tennis365                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"21 May 2026 7:00 AM\" data-ps-date=\"21 May 2026 7:00 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1779343251\"><br \/>\n                            21 May 2026 7:00 AM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden 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hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Novak Djokovic made to eat his own words as French Open return nears\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/images.ps-aws.com\/c?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Fcontent%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F06%2FNovak-Djokovic-volley-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Novak Djokovic in action\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Novak Djokovic plays a volley                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Novak Djokovic admitted his physical issues are part of a \u201cnew reality\u201d he has to get used to ahead of the French Open.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-time major winner has played just three tournaments in 2026 and has just one clay court match to his name, a three-set defeat to Dino Prizmic in Rome.<\/p>\n<p>Even though the 38-year-old can still be the best player on his day, his build-up to Roland Garros has been far from ideal.<\/p>\n<p>He told reporters, \u201c<span>It\u2019s not an ideal preparation, to be honest. I don\u2019t recall the last time I had in the last couple of years a preparation where I didn\u2019t have any kind of physical issues or health issues coming into the tournament. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere\u2019s always something. Kind of a new reality that I have to deal with. I\u00a0train hard. I train as much as the body allows me to. Then, how it turns out on the court, that\u2019s really unpredictable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>More Novak Djokovic news<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/french-open\/french-open-novak-djokovic-warned-lose-anyone-former-world-no-2\">French Open: Novak Djokovic told he \u2018could lose to anyone\u2019 by former world No 2<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/novak-djokovic-has-a-clear-decision-he-must-make-following-carlos-alcarazs-wimbledon-withdrawal\">Wimbledon: Should Novak Djokovic skip French Open after latest Carlos Alcaraz news?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as<span>\u00a0<\/span><a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But for all of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Djokovic<\/a>\u2018s concerns, just under a year ago, the Serb hinted he may not return to this tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The three-time Roland Garros winner was outfought and outlasted by the Italian on <span>Philippe Chatrier, suggesting the changing of the guard at the top of men\u2019s tennis had well and truly arrived.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Hot on the heels of his three-set loss to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jannik-sinner\">Jannik Sinner<\/a> in the 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/french-open\">French Open<\/a> semi-finals, the veteran left his future very up in the air.<\/p>\n<p>When asked if this was an in an indication that this was his last ever French Open, Djokovic said, \u201cThis could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don\u2019t know. That\u2019s why I was a bit more emotional even in the end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut if this was the farewell match of the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So while Djokovic has been something of a part-time player, he did reach all four semi-finals at the Grand Slams last year.\u00a0Plus, at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/australian-open\">Australian Open<\/a>, he beat Sinner in five sets to reach the final, before losing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> in the final.<\/p>\n<p>So the fact that Djokovic is seeded third at the French Open and is back at this hallowed event is an achievement in itself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/rafael-nadal-says-theres-one-positive-for-carlos-alcarazs-current-wrist-injury\">Rafael Nadal highlights one \u2018positive\u2019 for Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s wrist injury<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic made to eat his own words as French Open return nears Tennis365 21 May 2026 7:00 AM Novak Djokovic plays a volley Novak Djokovic admitted his physical issues are part of a \u201cnew reality\u201d he has to get used to ahead of the French Open. The 24-time major winner has played just three [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1946659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1946659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1946659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1946659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1946659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}