Djokovic misses pre-tournament press conference in Belgrade, blames it on fatigue

World No.1 Novak Djokovic does not have too many matches under his belt this season, which led the Serbian ramping up his training sessions and missing his press conference as he prepares to compete at the Serbia Open.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion was unable to compete at Indian Wells and Miami due to his vaccination status, and lost his opening round match to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Monte-Carlo Masters last week. As a result, the 34-year old returned to his native Serbia, where he will be competing this week at his home event.

However, due to his limited match-play this season, the Serbian had to increase his practice sessions, leading to him to miss his pre-tournament press conference. Although he did reschedule, his fatigue was apparent as he took questions from the media.

"I’m sorry about that (missing the presser)," stated Djokovic. "I had four practices – twice fitness, twice tennis – so I was really tired. I need all the matches I can get here in order to prepare even better for Roland Garros.”

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Djokovic fell in the semifinals of his home event to Aslan Karatsev last year, and although he lacks adequate preparation this year, he was still in good spirits when dealing with the media. When asked what he was thinking about before falling asleep the previous night, the Serbian had a rather humorous response.

"How not to hurt our dog who was sleeping between us," said Djokovic. "Then I did some breathing exercises and fell asleep."