Exclusive: Novak Djokovic says Wimbledon win was ‘huge relief and confidence boost’ ahead of Paris Masters

Novak Djokovic says winning Wimbledon was a “huge relief and confidence boost” in a season in which he has only been able to play two of the four Grand Slams.

The 21-time major champion has had a disrupted year as he was unable to play in Australia or North America due to being unvaccinated.

That meant he missed both the Australian Open and the US Open.

He won Wimbledon for a seventh time a month after losing in the quarter-finals of the French Open to Rafael Nadal.

Reflecting on his 2022 season, Djokovic told Eurosport: “The way the season started was not very positive for me and I experienced some new, unusual sensations off the court after Australia so that affected my tennis and it took a bit of time to find that balance and find the desired level of tennis that I wanted.

“I am glad it all came together from probably the end of the clay court season. Wimbledon was a very important tournament for me, and after that, I felt a huge relief and a confidence boost.

“Then Astana and Tel Aviv were two really good weeks indoors. I always like to play indoors and historically my record is really good.”

Djokovic did not play on the tour for nearly three months after winning Wimbledon.

But he has looked in good form on his return, winning titles in Astana and Tel Aviv, and arrives at this week’s Paris Masters on a nine-match winning streak.

The world No. 7 says he used his time away from tennis over the summer to work on improving his game.

“It’s not an ideal calendar but those are the circumstances I had to accept and deal with it.

“I tried to use the time I had to rest and spend quality time with family and work on my game. I liked the time I had to work on specifics in terms of tactics, and technique, whatever it is, there is always something to work on but in tennis, we never have time because the season is so long and we play week after week from January to the end of November.

“I used it in the best possible way and that has reflected in a positive way on my game in the last two tournaments. I am hoping to continue that run.

“I wanted to play here because I have done so well here in the past and coming into the ATP Finals you want to have more matches at the highest level so hopefully I can have a great week here and finish the season in the best possible way.”

Djokovic is a six-time champion in Paris and will face either Maxime Cressy or Diego Schwartzman in his opening match.

He is on the same half of the draw as Nadal, who will be playing for the first time since the US Open. Nadal, who recently became a father for the first time, has never won the tournament and will open against either Roberto Bautista Agut or Tommy Paul.

The Paris Masters is the last tournament on the regular-season calendar, with only the ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals still to come in 2022.