Tennis: Djokovic feels 'uncertainty' ahead of Cincinnati Open
The Belgrade player, leader of the world ranking, lowered his favoritism after "so many months of absence," as he does not really know how he will feel on the court.
"Also, there will be no audience, you will have to find your own towel and that will extend the time between points, which will also extend the time of the matches. This is just one of those things that you have to experience to really know how you will feel," he said in statements collected on the ATP website.
Not even the fact that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will be absent in those two tournaments makes him think that he will go far.
"We will miss Federer and Nadal. But all the other important players are here and have the opportunity to win. If I have more chances to win because Roger and Rafa are not here, I really don't know. Dominic Thiem, Zverev, Tsitsipas or Medvedev are as good as Roger, Rafa, and me. Anyone can win these tournaments, to be honest," commented Djokovic, champion of the Cincinnati tournament in 2018, when he became the first tennis player in history to win the nine ATP Masters 1000.
Now he is going for one more title, the third of 2020 after conquering the Australian Open and the Dubai tournament.
"I have returned to the type of environment where I feel most comfortable," said the Serbian, who will debut in the Cincinnati tournament against the winner of the match between Tommy Paul, invited by the organization, and Ricardas Berankis, from the qualifying phase.
"I love to compete. I think at the end of the day, we are all professional tennis players and we all want to be here and restart our season. I miss tennis. I miss the competition," he emphasized.