“I was planning to peak at Wimbledon”: Djokovic says he is in far better shape than at Roland-Garros
Five weeks after his five-set Roland-Garros loss to teenager João Fonseca, Novak Djokovic says grass leaves him better prepared physically for Wimbledon, where he could meet Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.
Novak Djokovic, practice before Wimbledon 2026 | © AP Photo/Kin Cheung/SIPA
Novak Djokovic arrives at Wimbledon believing his body is in a better place than it was at Roland-Garros, where a five-set defeat to Joao Fonseca ended his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title in the third round. Asked how the last four weeks had gone, the 39-year-old went straight to the comparison.
“I think it is different in terms of just the overall physical state,” he said. “I think I’m better prepared here than I was for Roland-Garros.”
The grass, he explained, asks less of him at this stage of his career. “Playing on grass, you don’t need to exert as much physical effort,” he said. “So that’s better for me. And I always love playing on grass.”
I lost in the third round against the 20-years-younger opponent, and fought him till the end in five sets. I’m proud of the effort.
Paris had taken its toll. “Roland-Garros was physically draining and demanding,” he said. “Three matches that I played, all of them went around four hours.”
He did not hide from the result against João Fonseca, but framed it around the fight rather than the scoreline. “I’m proud of the effort,” he said. “Lost in the third round against the 20-years-younger opponent, and fought him till the end in five sets.”
Wimbledon is the one
He had, he said, always seen the grass as the real target. “I was anyway planning to peak at Wimbledon,” he said, pointing to the shoulder injury that he said had kept him off tour for several months. “Not having many official matches on the tour, and going pretty much straight into Roland-Garros, is quite difficult, and maybe too big of a challenge for me at the moment.”
That lack of matches told in Paris. Djokovic arrived at Roland-Garros having played sparingly, and after a first-round loss at Rome to Dino Prizmic, 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, his clay form was fragile.
At the French Open he ground through three four-hour battles: a five-set escape against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4, then a four-set win over Valentin Royer, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(7), 6-3, before the third-round collapse against 19-year-old João Fonseca, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 5-7 – a two-set lead surrendered over nearly five hours, his earliest Roland-Garros exit since 2009.
Re-match against Fonseca?
Djokovic’s 2026 has been a stop-start campaign built around peaking late. He went 9-4 in singles across the year without a title, his deepest run coming at the Australian Open in January, where he reached the final before losing to Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 2-6, 3-6, 5-7. He fell in the fourth round at Indian Wells to Jack Draper, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(5), and a shoulder problem he said kept him off tour for months left his clay preparation badly compromised.
Djokovic’s projected route reads kindly on paper before it sharpens. He opens against China’s Wu Yibing, with a second round against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Hugo Gaston to follow. Arthur Rinderknech is the likeliest third-round obstacle, ahead of a fourth-round tie that could deliver a Roland-Garros rematch with João Fonseca, the teenager who beat him in Paris, should the Brazilian get past, for instance, Andrey Rublev.
A projected quarter-final against third seed Félix Auger-Aliassime – or a dangerous floater in the mould of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or home favourite Cameron Norrie – would stand between him and the last four. Sinner would wait for an Australian Open revenge in the semis.
