Novak Djokovic reveals how he recharged his batteries ahead of Wimbledon – ‘I was too exhausted’

Novak Djokovic once again kept a low profile in the build-up to Wimbledon, but where and how did he switch off after his French Open win?

The Serbian has admitted that he was mentally and physically drained after his record-breaking title run at Roland Garros saw him become the first man to win 23 Grand Slams with the final in Paris taking place on June 11.

Unlike most other top players who opt to use the three weeks before Wimbledon to play in warm-up tournaments on grass, Djokovic has for the past few years skipped warm-up events.

This year was no different as he only played in the exhibition Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at Hurlingham Club before his SW19 opener and there were once again no signs of being undercooked as he defeated Pedro Cachin in three sets on Monday.

After the match, Djokovic revealed he was in the Azores – an archipelago of nine islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – with his wife Jelena as he took a much-needed break.

“I didn’t play in the Azores. I actually hiked a lot with my wife, I took some time, spent some quality time with her,” the reigning Wimbledon champion said.

“What wonderful islands you have there. It’s fantastic. Quite remote, though. When we were supposed to take off, we couldn’t. We were stuck because of the fog. We had to fly the next day.

“Amazing, amazing food. Amazing people. Very friendly. It was great because I’ve been through a lot of different emotions during the clay season, particularly obviously reaching the climax in Paris, and I needed to get away, get isolated a little bit.

“I had a pretty active recovery there, but still mentally felt refreshed when I came back. It was never in the plan if I would go to reach the final stages of Roland Garros that I would play any grass-court event. I haven’t done that in the last I think four years, and before that as well.

“I just played a few times actually Queen’s or Eastbourne. In ’17 Queen’s, and I think ’18. After that I haven’t played lead-up events because I just felt that it’s probably better for me to take an extra week of training to get used to the grass, the movement, the specifics of grass court tennis, what it requires from the player. Different tactics, different game style.”

Djokovic of course has won the last four titles at Wimbledon and why change something when it is working?

He added: “Ideally, yes, you want to play one or two or three official matches. But, yeah, just too short of a time. I was too exhausted physically, emotionally. I just needed to regroup.

“It has worked the last four years. No reason to believe it cannot work again. It’s a long tournament. So far I’m feeling good.”

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