Following his dominant start to the season, Novak Djokovic should be feeling more than a little optimistic about his chances to win to his first Roland Garros title.
The world No. 1 has only lost two matches this season, first against Ivo Karlovic in Doha and then to Roger Federer in the final of Dubai. In 2011, Djokovic went undefeated through the first five months by winning the Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells, and Miami (all on hard courts). The Serbian continued his streak on clay, winning in Belgrade, Madrid, and Rome before Roger Federer halted his run in the semifinals of Roland Garros.
Djokovic hopes that he will continue to play excellent throughout the clay-court season. "I hope so, but it's just the beginning. I don't want to predict anything," Djokovic said. "I don't want to put some additional unnecessary pressure on myself. There is already a lot of expectations, of course. Everywhere I go I have to deal with it."
The eight-time Grand Slam champion has won the Australian Open five times, Wimbledon twice, and the U.S. Open once, but he has never won the French Open. Rafael Nadal has beaten Djokovic six times in Paris.
"I could not ask for a better start of the season, winning three big titles," Djokovic said. "Hopefully I'm able to use this for the clay court [season] coming up. That's extremely important for me obviously leading up to French Open."