“I have an injury, I hope to be ready at least for Roland Garros" - French Open the ambition for Novak Djokovic who refuses to predict injury timeline

Novak Djokovic was on presenting and hosting duties at last night's Laureus World Sports Awards. The event was held in the Spanish capital right before the start of the Madrid Open. Djokovic will not be spending much more time there, however, as he gives a fleeting update on his injury timeline, hinting at a return for Roland Garros.

For the past few years, Djokovic has been competing at fewer events, preserving his body for mostly major tournaments. He has still shown his competitive edge in these competitions but the number of titles has dried up.

The 38-year-old needs to be careful about his body, continuing to focus on recovery and fitness as he looks to prolong his tennis career at a level and age many players would dream of. He has proven that he can still compete with the best players in the world, defeating Jannik Sinner in a titanic five-set battle in the Australian Open semi-finals before losing out to Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Aside from that tournament, he has competed in just one other in 2026: Indian Wells. This ended to the hands of reigning champion Jack Draper after losing in three sets. He has since pulled out of the Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open with his shoulder problem not going away overnight.

The Serbian has made it no secret about his desire to win an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title. It would even further cement his name as a tennis legend and possibly confirm him as the greatest to ever do it. This makes his participation at the French Open all the more important with time running out. With there still other tournaments in the way, including the Rome Open, Djokovic has kept his cards close to his chest as he refused to make a prediction about the timeline of his injury.

“I have an injury, I hope to be ready at least for Roland Garros," he told Spanish media at the Laureus World Sports Awards show. "I’m working to get to Rome but I can’t make a prediction now because it depends on the progress of the injury. At least for Roland Garros I’m ready.”

The Rome Open may be sacrificed for his chances of making it to the second Grand Slam of 2026. Even if he does not make the trip to Italy, there is still time to get some last minute preparation in at the Geneva Open.

Djokovic was much more active last year, competing in the Monte-Carlo Masters and Madrid Open. While he did lose in the second round in both of these tournaments, he would go on to secure his 100th ATP title in Switzerland before going on a run to the semi-final of Roland Garros. In total, that was six matches played ahead of the major event in Paris.

Since then, he has really limited his game time before Grand Slam tournaments. He would not step onto the court before Wimbledon ahead of skipping the two Masters 1000 tournaments in the North American hardcourt swing as the US Open became the talk of the town. Before his final run in the Australian Open, he last set foot onto the court at the Hellenic Championship back in November of 2025. This goes to show that preparation on court is not totally vital for Djokovic to compete at the highest level. Tennis fans will have their eyes glued to this emerging story as they wait for his next decision.