Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Miomir Jakovljevic / ANADOLU AGENCY / Anadolu Agency via AFP 21:35 p.m., May 11, 2023, modified at 21:36 p.m., May 11, 2023

Novak Djokovic back on the courts. The Serb, who returns for the tournament in Rome, gave reassuring news about his injuries. A few weeks before Roland Garros, the tennis player hopes to be back to 100% for the Grand Slam of the Porte d'Auteuil.

"Everything is fine, everything is fine," Novak Djokovic said Thursday in Rome, on the eve of his entry into the last big tournament of preparation for Roland-Garros, while he has been handicapped in recent weeks by pain in the elbow. "There are always a few things here and there that bother, but that's normal," added the Serb without elaborating.

"And then when you're not 25 anymore, I think you feel things more (smiles). It takes a little longer, I guess, to recover. But I feel good," insisted the player who will celebrate his 36th birthday on May 22.

>> READ ALSO – "Catastrophic": Gilles Moretton lets loose on the "failure" of the Davis Cup of Gerard Pique

"I miss the competition"

After missing the North American tour on hard courts (Indian Wells and Miami) for lack of a covid vaccine, Djokovic injured his right elbow just before making his return to competition in Monte Carlo in early April. He lost in his second match, in the 8th final. Then he lost in the quarters in Banja Luka before withdrawing in Madrid. "I miss the competition," he said Thursday.

The world number 1, who will cede his place at the top of the ATP hierarchy to Carlos Alcaraz at the end of the Masters 1000 of Rome whatever the results, must face Friday in the second round the Argentine Tomas Etcheverry (61st).