It appears to former American tennis star Sam Querrey that Novak Djokovic didn’t try in his upset loss against Alejandro Tabilo at the Italian Open.
The former ATP #11 also declared he would not be surprised if Djokovic suffered an early exit at the Roland Garros as he feels the 24-time Grand Slam champion has never entered the Paris major with such terrible results in the clay swing.
Djokovic is currently in action at the Geneva Open where he brushed aside Yannick Hanfmann and Tallon Griekspoor in his opening two matches. In the semis of the ATP 250-level event, Djokovic is set to face Tomas Machac in the semis on Friday.
The World #1 is looking to reach his first final of the season after having a rocky 2024 campaign. Before Geneva, Djokovic played only six matches on clay at Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open combine.
At the Rome Masters, Djokovic couldn’t help a poor display of form as he fell to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 2-6, 3-6 in the R3.
After concluding his Geneva campaign, the legendary Serbian will head to Roland Garros to defend his title as the play begins on Sunday. The draw is out for French major where Djokovic will face French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the opener.
During an episode of Racquet’s Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Querrey discussed Djokovic’s prospects at the clay slam.
“I don’t know (what’s going on with Djokovic),” the American said. “I watched his match against Tabilo [in Rome]. It looked like he didn’t try. He lost 6-2, 6-3. He wasn’t in the match mentally from the third, fourth game.
“At this point, he’s only concerned about the Grand Slams so I trust him to get it together mentally and be engaged and ready to go at the French Open.
“He’s never come into the French Open in the last 15, 16 years having such terrible results. So, I’m also not surprised if he loses early to, you know, a player like Tabilo.”
The former Spanish World No. 2, Alex Corretja in a recent interview also assessed Djokovic’s ongoing struggles ahead of the Roland Garros.
“It seems to me that Novak is saving energy for the summer time for Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Olympics, the US Open,” the 2-time French Open runner-up told Eurosport.
“I think he knows that it’s going to be a very busy time and he’s been just hanging in there, observing his body, you know, his mind.
“Definitely he needs a good first week to get in shape again, to get some rhythm, to get some feeling with the ball and to spend a little bit of time to suffer one of those matches where maybe he doesn’t feel great, but he needs to get through and get that confidence back.
“I’m counting on Novak. Of course he knows how to deal in the Slams. He’s the defending champion. He loves to play there on that Philippe Chatrier. So, I’m not worried about his form.
“I’m more just interested to see how he’s going to deal with the whole situation once he doesn’t feel as great as he wished, but I have no doubt that he’s going to be good.”