With the French Open just days away, Novak Djokovic says he will not be affected by his defeat in the Rome final.
Djokovic fell to Andy Murray, 6-3, 6-3, just his second defeat to the world No. 2 in 14 meetings.
“Andy was the better player,” Djokovic said. “He was the player who had the best form throughout this week. I think he's using the court better now. He has more variety in his shots from the baseline ... To compete with him in the long exchanges that we tend to have in our encounters required a lot of energy and a better performance from me, which didn't happen."
Djokovic had good reason for being less than fresh. He won the Madrid title the previous week, came back from a 6-0 first-set whitewash against Thomaz Bellucci in the third round and then played a tight, high-quality two-set match against Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. He defeated Kei Nishikori in a third-set tiebreak to advance to the final.
"I had a long couple of weeks, especially the last couple of days," Djokovic acknowledged. "...I'm glad I managed to get to the final, because in a couple of matches I’ve had to come back from one-set deficits. All in all, it was [a] very good two weeks. I got what I was looking for, which is [a] lot of matches."
Djokovic also dropped his opening match in Monte Carlo—his second loss of the season—to Jiri Vesely. With five titles in the books and just three losses to date, the world No. 1 insists that he’s still on track as he attempts to win his first French Open.
"My confidence level is high because of the many matches that I have won this year on this surface, and all the other surfaces,” he said. “So I don't feel that I'm doubtful or that I'm shaken up.”
Djokovic has reached three French Open finals, in 2012, 2014 and 2015.