Novak Djokovic gets over the pain of Paris

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  • Djokovic insists that he has learned from defeat at the French Open and moved on.

    In the world of professional tennis, the most vital skill you need to have is probably learning how to lose.

    With a new tournament coming your way each week, one must perfect the art of rebounding from a loss in order to take on a new challenge with enough gusto and vigor just a few days later.

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    It is a skill Novak Djokovic  believes he has developed enough over the years and one that he has been relying upon to get over his heartbreaking defeat to Stan Wawrinka at the French Open three weeks ago in order to be ready for his title defence at Wimbledon this fortnight.

    After taking down two of his greatest rivals Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray en route to the Roland Garros final, Djokovic’s hopes of completing a career grand slam were dashed by an on-fire Wawrinka.

    The world No1 took some time off after that and vacationed with his friends in family in Marbella before returning to the courts 10 days ago to prepare for Wimbledon – albeit opting not to play a warm-up tournament and settling for just two exhibition matches at the Boodles event.

    “I needed some time to just mentally recover, rest ‑ more than physical rest, I needed that emotional, mental rest to recharge my batteries and get myself in a proper state of mind so I can start all over again,” Djokovic told reporters on Sunday.

    Asked if that Wawrinka loss was tougher to move past compared to his previous defeats in Paris, he added: “Obviously because it was the finals, and that the most important match of the tournament for me. That’s the match that I wanted to win, but it didn’t happen, mostly because I lost to a better player that day.

    “It’s all behind me now. I’m experienced, and something that tennis has taught me over the years, to move on, and to be able to do that very quickly.

    “You have two out of four most important events in the sport just within three weeks’ time. You need to be able to reset very rapidly and get yourself a new motivation and inspire yourself to keep on going. This motivation and faith has to be even stronger than it was three weeks ago.

    “I’ve been in this particular situations before. It’s brought me a lot of mental, emotional strength. Because of the matches like against Stan, I have become stronger and I’ve learned how to grow in the process. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that again…

    “The traces may stay, let’s say, for some time. But you always try to train your mind to look on the bright side, to move on, to leave what happened in the past, and just take it as a lesson, and something that will give you that strength.”

    Djokovic could have a rematch with Wawrinka in the semi-finals at Wimbledon but the world No1 must first get past a brutal opening round against world No33 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

    Kohlschreiber, a former quarter-finalist at the All England Club, is a tough competitor on grass and has given the likes of Roger Federer and Andy Murray a hard time in several matches this season.

    “It’s one of the toughest first rounds I could get,” conceded Djokovic.

    “But this is a grand slam. This is what it takes. You need to step out there and perform your best, win against the best players in the world if you want to keep on going.”

    Meanwhile Wawrinka, seeded No4 at Wimbledon, is hoping to keep up his form to try and capture a third major trophy and become just the fifth man in the Open Era to pull-off the Paris-Wimbledon double in the same year.

    His best showing here came last year when he made the quarter-finals before losing to Roger Federer and he will open his campaign today on centre court against Joao Sousa of Portugal.

    The Swiss has won two of the last six slams – only Djokovic has won as many within that period – but Wawrinka refuses to place himself amongst the ‘Big Four’ just yet.

    “I’m not trying to compare myself with them (Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Nadal),” said Wawrinka. 

    “I think what they achieved the past 10 years, it’s amazing. They’ve been winning everything, again, since more than 10 years.  That’s the only reason why I’m not putting myself there.

    “They did much more than what I did. It’s been only two years that I’ve been winning some big titles. So for sure I’m not part of them.”

                                          

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