Monte-Carlo Masters 2022: 'Optimistic' Djokovic reveals his inspiration for clay-court season

Novak Djokovic begins his clay-court campaign against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Monte-Carlo Masters, which starts on Monday.

Unvaccinated Novak Djokovic has hit the headlines this year for all the wrong reasons. It started with the Australian Open 2022 deportation drama, which was followed by a BBC interview where World No.1 admitted he is willing to let go of participating in upcoming Grand Slams over choosing to take the Covid-19 jab. 

The Serb also lost his number one ranking to Daniil Medvedev for a brief period before going up again after the Russian failed to reach the semi-final of the Miami Open. Regardless, all eyes will be on Djokovic, who will be seen back in clay-court action at the Monte-Carlo Masters that begins on Monday.

Ahead of the tournament, the 20-time Grand Slam champion opened up about how he plans to use the challenging experiences he has endured this year for being unvaccinated against Covid-19 as fuel for the rest of the season. Djokovic also revealed a moment from his past that he will look back at for inspiration for Monte-Carlo Masters as well as next month's French Open.

"I try to be optimistic in life and consider myself a very optimistic, positive person. I take lessons available in every experience, particularly in something as large as what happened in January," Djokovic told reporters.

"Once I start playing matches... I will obviously have to deal with everything that probably has been dormant inside and is maybe waiting to come out. I don't feel it has left huge scars that I'm unable to train or participate in tournaments or live my life... far from that," the Serbian added.

"But it has been a challenging few months and something I never experienced before. So I will try to use that as fuel for what's coming up," the 34-year-old stated.

Djokovic, who has only played three matches this year – all in Dubai – said he missed competing. "The last four, five months have been really challenging for me mentally and emotionally, but here I am. I try to leave all of that behind and move on," he said.

"My Roland Garros win last year is still fresh in my memory, so I try to use that as inspiration to kickstart the clay-court season in the best possible way," Djokovic revealed.

"I intend to play the full clay-court season according to my schedule of the previous years. I understand I probably won't be at my best, particularly at the beginning of this week, so I'm testing my engine, so to say, and building my game," World No.1 concluded.

Djokovic begins his clay-court campaign against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Monte-Carlo Masters, which starts on Monday.