Novak Djokovic has surpassed rival Rafael Nadal to achieve yet another record, after reaching his first Monte Carlo Masters quarter-final since 2019.
Djokovic enacted revenge over Lorenzo Musetti, beating the Italian in straight sets after losing to the same player in Monte Carlo a year prior.
Although it was a straight sets victory for Djokovic, it did not always appear straightforward with the Serbian coming from a break down in the first set and seemingly shaking at a change of ends.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion addressed these concerns after the match, “Pleasure in suffering I guess. That’s what clay gives you.”
Djokovic, who wears the self-titled ASICS Court FF3 Novak trainers, continued in the press conference, “Well, I must say that at some moments of the game today I was really not feeling great physically. But that’s also part of the first several matches on clay. You know, when you play somebody as strong as Musetti, you know, where you have to earn your victory, have to work physically very hard, it’s kind of, yeah, very much possible that it will happen where you will somehow hit the wall physically and you have to kind of find a way up from that.
“Yeah, but I managed to find a way. That’s what matters the most. I keep going. I have to, as I said, believe that the process of training and everything that I’m doing with my team is going to give me rewards.
After beating Musetti, Djokovic has become only the second player to reach 10 quarter-finals at the Monte Carlo Masters, alongside the aforementioned Nadal.
As a result, Djokovic has also overtaken Nadal as the player with the highest win percentage at ATP Masters 1000 events.
And the world No.1 appears positive about his start to the clay court season, “I’m already feeling some great things on the court these few days, and that’s what matters the most for me, I mean, that I’m on the right path. Now, you know, Paris is where I want to reach the summit in terms of the way I play and feel, so I’m feeling good right now.”
Novak Djokovic will look to reach his first Monte Carlo Masters semi-final this afternoon, when he takes on Alex de Minaur, who is one of three players to have beaten the 36-year-old in 2024.
Novak Djokovic and ASICS
Novak Djokovic wore the aforementioned ASICS Court FF3 Novak Clay trainers in Monte Carlo, that are described as ‘the ultimate combination of flexibility and stability’. The world No.1 helped design the Court FF3 Novak in collaboration with the Japanese trainer giant, with the hope of supporting ‘extreme movements to cover all areas of the clay court’.
This has included using specialist shoe technologies to provide the perfect clay court shoe, with TWISTRUSS and the MONO-SOCK the standouts. TWISTRUSS technology allows you to ‘move faster without compromising stability because of its strategic placement and reduced weight’. While, the MONO-SOCK ensures ‘a more comfortable fit and provides better support for added stability’.
Fans of Novak and ASICS can enjoy Tennishead’s review of the new Court FF3 and can then go one step further and receive their own pair of these amazing shoes complete with a head-to-toe ASICS outfit by joining the legendary Tennishead CLUB
