A record-shattering 25th Grand Slam title has eluded Djokovic and his latest quest was ended at Roland Garros by the incredible Joao Fonseca<\/a>. <\/p>\n Now, Djokovic looks to break his recent Grand Slam duck at Wimbledon and claim more history in his incredible career.<\/p>\n Speaking on Media Day, Djokovic has spoke about his preparations for Wimbledon and has admitted he feels physically better than at Roland Garros.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I think it is different in terms of just the overall physical state. I think I\u2019m better prepared here than I was for Roland Garros,\u201d Djokovic said in his press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously playing on grass, comparing to clay, you don\u2019t need to exert as much physical effort. So that\u2019s better for me. I always loved playing on grass. I have a very good score here, history, in Wimbledon. That gives me, of course, a higher dose of confidence coming into the tournament. Roland Garros was physically very draining, demanding. Three matches that I played, all of them went almost four hours.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m proud of the effort. I lost in the third round against a 20-years-younger opponent, fought until the end in the five sets almost, four and whatever hours that we played. Yeah, of course maybe not the result I was looking for, but the effort was there. Anyway, I was planning to peak at Wimbledon after the injury of the shoulder that kind of kept me away from the tour for several months. I knew not having any matches, official matches on the tour, going pretty much straight into Roland Garros, is going to be quite difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe too big of a challenge for me at the moment. That\u2019s what happened. But I knew that\u2019s going to give me a bit more time to get myself prepared for Wimbledon. So hopefully I\u2019ll have a good tournament here.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s good to hear from Djokovic who struggled with injury throughout the clay court season and only played one tournament ahead of Roland Garros which is rare for him.<\/p>\n Now, Djokovic is ready to continue his quest for a historic 25th Grand Slam title but the Serb isn\u2019t the only legend appearing at Wimbledon this year.<\/p>\n Seven-time champion Serena Williams <\/a>is back at Wimbledon at the age of 44 as she continues to set the standard for the next generation.<\/p>\n Djokovic hailed the Williams sisters impact and is excited by Serena\u2019s return.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, first and foremost, what she\u2019s doing is inspirational and it\u2019s epic. That\u2019s what I told her,\u201d Djokovic explained.<\/p>\n \u201cI always admired her career, her journey, her story. Of course, Venus\u2019, as well. For her to come back after years of being absent from the tour, two children later, and to give so much effort to, not just for her own satisfaction or coming back on the tour, but also to give all of us a pleasure of seeing her back on the court \u2013 in singles as well as doubles \u2013 is remarkable.<\/p>\n \u201cI told her that whatever happens, what she\u2019s doing is truly inspirational for me personally, I\u2019m sure for millions around the world. I see her in the gym more than I have, I think, seen her when she was at her prime. It tells me that she really wants this to work out the best way possible. It\u2019s admirable, honestly, the effort she\u2019s putting in.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, all eyes are on her, her comeback. I just hope that she will enjoy because she really deserves. She created something historical, legendary in her career. She deserves every applause she\u2019s going to get.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Djokovic, the Serb will start his Wimbledon against Yibing Wu <\/a>on Monday afternoon on Centre Court.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka hires Psychologist after Roland Garros meltdown <\/p>\n It\u2019s not just Djokovic who is excited by Serena\u2019s return though as world number one Aryna Sabalenka <\/a>was also very happy to see the American return.<\/p>\n Speaking at her press conference Sabalenka admitted that the 23-time Grand Slam champion\u2019s return to tennis is a good thing for the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how far. I\u2019m super excited to see her play. That\u2019s incredible,\u201d Sabalenka stated.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard she said she\u2019s doing that for her kids to see her play. They really get excited about that. It\u2019s amazing what she\u2019s doing. Also it\u2019s Serena Williams, everyone was talking about that. She\u2019s bringing more eyes on tennis. It\u2019s a good thing for tennis. I\u2019m really excited to see her play.\u201d<\/p>\n Sabalenka will hope to draw inspiration from Williams\u2019 career as she hopes to overcome a rough patch in her career.<\/p>\n The top seed suffered a big meltdown at Roland Garros in the quarter-finals against Diana Shnaider <\/a>as her Parisian dreams must wait another year.<\/p>\n However, Sabalenka is now targeting a first Wimbledon title and has hired a psychologist in her bid for Wimbledon glory.<\/p>\n Speaking about the move Sabalenka admitted the mental part of the sport is really important to her.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it\u2019s mostly about mental part of the game. When I start working with psychologist, like, we spoke with my team, and it\u2019s okay at some point I\u2019ll have to get back to her,\u201d Sabalenka analyzed.<\/p>\n \u201cThat will happen. I contacted her. I didn\u2019t want to find someone else because you have to go through the whole story, you have to tell your whole story, make other person to understand you deeper. I went to person who knows me really well. For now we\u2019re working again. I just feel like I need someone to throw all of my thoughts to, kind of like clear my head a little bit ahead of a big tournament. I think it\u2019s really important.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, I have my team. We chat a lot. Sometimes you have things that you don\u2019t want to throw at your team at the same time. I think it\u2019s really important to have someone you can talk to and you can feel safe with.\u201d<\/p>\n Sabalenka is a leader on the court as there is no length the world number one won\u2019t go to in order to achieve Grand Slam success.<\/p>\n The world number one will hope her latest move will be rewarded and that will be put to the test in her first round match against Teodora Kostovic<\/a>. <\/p>\n However, Sabalenka is also a leader off the court as she is leading the 15 minute time limit for media in order to increase prize money at Grand Slams.<\/p>\n Wimbledon increased their prize money by 20% and while that is a sign of progress Sabalenka believes more can be done.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great start they raise the prize money. It\u2019s an amazing start. If you look over the last 10 years, if you compare the prize money to 2016, it\u2019s kind of like the same because they went down. It\u2019s a great start,\u201d Sabalenka acknowledged.<\/p>\n \u201cI really hope we can finally get to the table and really get it done, come to conclusion that everyone going to be happy with. Hopefully we\u2019ll never have to do it again. Like I said a minute ago, if you look to the prize money over the last 10 years, it\u2019s kind of like stayed the same. Once again, I hope we not going to get to this boycotting again. Listen, we do it for the tour, we don\u2019t do it for ourselves.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do it for the rest of the players who are suffering to even hire coach. It\u2019s not an easy life for players who is, like, lower in the ranking. So we do it for them. I really hope that the crowd, I\u2019m more than sure the crowd understand us. I mean, we\u2019re playing matches, we\u2019re there, we\u2019re competing, we\u2019re bringing the show. Now we just limiting our media. We just trying to really get to something that everyone going to be happy with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Jannik Sinner \u2018feeling good\u2019 after heat struggles <\/p>\n Another player who is joining in with limiting media commitments is Jannik Sinner <\/a>as the Italian is hoping to provide better money for future generations to come.<\/p>\n The Italian spoke about the bid to increase prize money but refused to speak about any future player councils as it\u2019s time to focus on the tennis.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I think it\u2019s getting better, even though we are not at the point where we are 100% happy,\u201d Sinner admitted in his press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the same time we have seen improvement. Again, it\u2019s not about the money \u2013 not only about the money. It\u2019s the whole scenario we take into consideration with welfare and everything else. Let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I think we talked enough about this at the moment. The Grand Slams know what we ask, then we see how it goes. Again, I\u2019m here now to talk about tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n Talk about the tennis we shall as Sinner is aiming to recover from a bitterly disappointing Roland Garros campaign.<\/p>\n The Italian was four points away from victory in his second round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo <\/a>before the heat got to him and he suffered a shock exit.<\/p>\n There has been a recent heatwave in England and Sinner spoke about that as well as the tests he did after Roland Garros to try and improve his performances under these conditions in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, of course you cannot simulate 100% what you feel in a match because of tension-wise everything going around before and after match. We did some changes. I don\u2019t say big, big changes. But I always believe in small details and small changes,\u201d Sinner revealed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are happy at the moment with what we are doing. The result we\u2019re not going to see here. It\u2019s a long process. There\u2019s no magic behind. But yeah, we are doing as much as we can. I\u2019m very happy with the work we did in the last two and a half weeks. Very long days. I feel well-prepared. No, were general tests to see health-wise how I was, to be sure that all is okay with the body, which is. All tests were really good. Even though we are very sure we need to practice in hotter conditions. I feel like everywhere where we play is going to be very hot.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year is getting warmer and warmer. It a very important topic. But at the same time I\u2019m happy the work we\u2019re doing. We try to improve in the best possible way, then we see how it goes in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinner will be hoping the hard work pays off when he opens up Centre Court on Monday against Miomir Kecmanovic<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Italian spoke about his grass court preparations and the art of playing well on grass as he prepares to defend his Wimbledon title.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I feel good. I think grass is very different surface obviously. You come here trying to do your best,\u201d Sinner stated.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the same time if you play a tournament before here, maybe it\u2019s not going the way you would like to, you come here with some doubts. If you don\u2019t play any tournament, you don\u2019t have these doubts, you just go and play. Look, last year I lost second round in Halle. I came here and I played very well. Every year is different.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to have as much confidence as possible in my shots and in my abilities. First rounds, they\u2019re always going to be very tough. I know that mentally. We are preparing ourself in the best possible way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Iga Swiatek excited about Wimbledon title defence <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n One defending champion to another as Iga Swiatek <\/a>prepares for her title defence at Wimbledon a year on from her triumph over Amanda Anisimova<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Pole has reflected on her memories from last year and is excited to return as defending champion but is being realistic about her chances this year.<\/p>\n \u201cExciting. I feel proud of what happened last year,\u201d Swiatek happily stated in her press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dream came true kind of. Not even a dream because I didn\u2019t dream that because I thought it was impossible. It feels great. On the other hand, I\u2019m here because of the next tournament. I need to also stay present.\u00a0I feel like people talk about it more. I think the whole vibe of becoming a member is something that you are not going to experience on other tournaments. Maybe that\u2019s why it feels a bit different. Honestly, I\u2019m going to look at it in a realistic way.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, yeah, last year\u2019s grass season was great. But it\u2019s not like I always felt amazing on grass, so\u2026 Even though I won, I still feel like I have stuff to figure out. Like this year even, the Bad Homburg tournament didn\u2019t really get me that nice rhythm that I had last year. I feel like I\u2019m starting from a totally different position and I\u2019m really in a place that I\u2019m keeping my expectations low. Even though everybody is talking about this, I feel like I need to play matches and I need to just \u2014 it\u2019s not going to be smooth because of last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I try to kind of not think about that too much, but more like be grateful about the experience and enjoy it because, as I said, my dream came true. It\u2019s also good to take some happiness from that and be proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Wimbledon has had ten different winners over the last ten years and Swiatek is hoping to end that trend this year.<\/p>\n A factor that could put Swiatek ahead of other previous winners is having the psychological advantage of having a psychologist in the past.<\/p>\n The Pole believes having a psychologist is \u2018crucial\u2019 and is happy to be one of the pioneers in opening up the conversation.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I also feel like many athletes did it before, but no one really was just talking about it. I always felt like I can be honest because I\u2019m not a robot,\u201d Swiatek admitted.<\/p>\n \u201cI also wasn\u2019t, like, born with all these skills to cope with expectations and stress and everything. You need to really work on it to have it. Even if you do, it\u2019s not going to stay with you forever. Yeah, I feel like now I also hear from other athletes and maybe coaches that many people used this kind of help, but not on tour probably. For me it was quite different because I was working with psychologist, like meeting online once per week or something. I was still kind of like closed and not really able, maybe stupid sometimes, because wasn\u2019t able to really describe what I felt or what I experienced.<\/p>\n \u201cI realized that I need someone next to me to observe and to help me come to some conclusions, to help me figure stuff out. When I was younger, I decided that this is the way to go. For me it\u2019s as important or even more important than physical preparation or even tennis-wise working. Honestly, if your head is not going to work the right way, you can have the best game on tour, but you\u2019re not going to perform as you want.<\/p>\n \u201cSo yeah, for me it\u2019s crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n Swiatek will open up Centre Court on Tuesday against Taylor Townsend<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Cameron Norrie embraces \u2018underdog\u2019 status<\/p>\n The final word goes to Cameron Norrie <\/a>as the British number one begins his Wimbledon campaign on Monday against Michael Zheng<\/a>. <\/p>\n Norrie has struggled with injuries recently and had to withdraw from his opening round match at Roland Garros but has recovered well.<\/p>\n Despite reaching the quarter-finals last year, Norrie believes he is an underdog this year and is looking to embrace that status being attached to his name.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I don\u2019t really do it on purpose. I would like to have done better at Queen\u2019s and gone deeper there. I never planned to play in Eastbourne. I always feel going into Wimbledon that I really need to push and really need to get back on track where I was,\u201d Norrie explained in his press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had, like, the whole week to kind of get ready. Had some matches in Hurlingham, which was fantastic. The preparation\u2019s been really good. The weather\u2019s put it on for me. I really like it when the grass is like this and it\u2019s warm and hot. Yeah, it\u2019s always nice to be the underdog going into whatever match you play. Such a special tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s nice to be able to use the crowd to your advantage. Yeah, there\u2019s a lot of Brits in the draw this year, which is so good. Everyone\u2019s playing well leading into the grass. I think I\u2019ve got my best tennis to come still. Yeah, I\u2019m going to just go use the crowd where I can. I think the biggest thing is playing point for point.<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless if I\u2019m playing unreal, playing shocking tennis, keep going, keep pushing. I feel like over the last maybe 10 slams I\u2019ve been very difficult to beat. Obviously not including French Open where I had to retire, but the other ones I\u2019ve been tough to beat.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to use that to where I can. Yeah, I\u2019m ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n How to Watch\/Follow Wimbledon 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tony Fairbairn at WimbledonNovak Djokovic has hailed the \u2018inspirational\u2019 Serena Williams as the American gets set to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[6005,49,44709,48,616,615,2083,82,593,614],"class_list":["post-765179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-ca","tag-cameron-norrie","tag-canada","tag-iga-swiatek","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-wimbledon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Connected-Clubs-Graphic.png\"\/)
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