Novak Djokovic has French Open hope as Serb 'pleased' after Belgrade loss to Andrey Rublev

Novak Djokovic remains optimistic about getting back to his best form for the French Open despite suffering a bagel set in his Serbia Open final loss to Andrey Rublev. The world No 1 has played just three tournaments so far this year and is still gaining momentum ahead of his Grand Slam title defence but is leaving Belgrade "pleased" with his progress.

Going into the Serbia Open, Djokovic had suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since July 2021 but in Belgrade he was able to battle from a set down in his first three matches to reach his first final of the season. While he also won a tight second set after dropping the first, the Serb ran out of gas in the final set as Rublev sealed a 6-2 6-7(4) 6-0 victory to lift the title in Djokovic's own Novak Tennis Centre in Belgrade.

Despite the one-sided final set, the 20-time Grand Slam champion has offered himself some hope ahead of his upcoming French Open title defence. "Things are progressing slowly but surely, Paris is the big goal and hopefully by Paris I'll be ready," he said after the final.

"I have to look at the positives, playing the final in front of my home crowd, it was unfortunate that in the third set I ran out of gas and couldn't deliver more of a fight." While Djokovic was forced to take the long route in his three match wins last week, he was happy to have some three-set battles under his belt going into the rest of the clay season.

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The world No 1 continued: "After four three-set battles I can say that I am tired but also pleased that I managed to win the matches prior to this one. I think that will serve me for the continuation of the clay court season."

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