Novak Djokovic makes ‘Pandora’s Box’ statement as he addresses reasons for 2024 struggles
Novak Djokovic declared he did not “want to open a Pandora’s Box” by delving into the reasons for his struggles in 2024 ahead of the French Open.
The legendary Serbian explained he intends to rectify “certain things that are wrong and really not serving the purpose of my highest performance level.”
Djokovic will face world No 142 Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the opening round of the 2024 edition of Roland Garros on Tuesday.
The world No 1, who is the defending French Open champion, is looking to win a fourth title at the Paris Major and 25th Grand Slam crown overall.
The 37-year-old holds a 14-6 record in 2024 and has not reached a final since winning the 2023 ATP Finals in November. He played nine matches across three clay-court events in Monte Carlo, Rome and Geneva prior to Roland Garros.
Djokovic reached the semi-finals in Monte Carlo, the third round at the Italian Open, and the last four in Geneva last week.
In a remarkable 2023 campaign, Djokovic won three of the four Grand Slam events and also narrowly lost in the Wimbledon final.
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Speaking to the media ahead of his Roland Garros title defence, Djokovic addressed why 2024 has been a difficult season for him to date.
“It’s various things that were happening in the last couple of months, but I don’t want to get into it. I hope you understand that,” Djokovic said.
“It’s just I don’t want to open a Pandora’s Box and talk about things. Just really try to focus myself on what needs to be done. What has happened, happened, and it’s in the past.
“It’s something that I can’t affect anymore, but I can kind of learn to rectify certain things and right the certain things that are wrong and really not serving the purpose of my highest performance level.
“So that’s what we have been working on as a team, and hopefully it will give us good results here.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion added: “Of course it does affect me, you know, the five months that I had so far in the year that haven’t been great in terms of my tennis.
“That’s why I have a kind of an approach that is focused on a daily basis more trying to build the form and momentum so that I can have a better chance to reach further in the tournament.”
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