Novak Djokovic cheered on by Mercedes’ George Russell in Monte Carlo Masters win over Ivan Gakhov

Novak Djokovic was cheered on by Formula 1 star George Russell as he made his return to court at the Monte Carlo Masters.

In his post-match interview on court, Djokovic called it “an ugly tennis win”, but he faced more questions of his performance from Mercedes driver Russell.

Asked by the British driver how he felt, Djokovic said: “It was good. It’s a solid start, but it could always be better.

“Perfection is, that level, you’re looking to get better, to improve.”

Russell was intrigued by how tennis players are unsure of when they will be on court and how waiting around affects their preparation.

Djokovic’s clash with Gakhov was third on the order of play, and Russell asked how the 22-time Grand Slam winner deals with that.

“It’s challenging and today I waited maybe an hour and a half or two hours more than I expected. So then you’re like, ‘should I be warming up or cooling down?’ And that makes you a bit anxious”, Djokovic replied.

Equally appreciative of the challenges Russell faces in his sport, Djokovic wanted to know how he deals with jet lag from flying all over the world every week.

“We’ve got Azerbaijan is the next one. We just came back from Melbourne. Melbourne’s a killer. It’s probably taken a week to come back”, Russell said.

Speaking about his down time to take in the tennis, Russell said: “We’ve actually got a couple weeks off, Azerbaijan, and then the season really kicks off.”

After three races, Russell currently sits in seventh position in the driver standings, while his Mercedes team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, is fourth.

As for Djokovic, he will face Luca Nardi or Lorenzo Musetti next on the clay in Monte Carlo.

– – –