(Tennis news) Following his loss to Italian Matteo Arnaldi, Djokovic was asked if this may have been the last time he competed at the Madrid Open.

“It could be. It could be. I’m not sure if I will come back. I hope it’s not, but it could be,” confessed the Serb.

After years and years of dominance, the 37-year-old Djokovic finds himself in unfamiliar territory, approaching tournaments with modest goals rather than expecting to win them.

“(My expectations were) Not big at all, to be honest. I was hoping I can play one more match than I played in Monte Carlo. Kind of new reality for me, I have to say, trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament,” reflected Djokovic.

“It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20+ years of professional tennis, so it’s kind of a challenge for me mentally to really face these kind of sensations on the court, going out early now regularly in the tournaments. But that’s, I guess, the circle of life and the career, eventually it was going to happen.”

Djokovic said he doesn’t consider himself one of the favourites for the title at Roland-Garros – a tournament he has won on three occasions – but hopes that can alleviate some of the pressure off of him heading to Paris.

“Things are different, obviously, with my strokes, with my body, with my movement, it’s the reality that I have to accept. I’ll try to make the most out of these new circumstances that I have, particularly on Grand Slams, where it counts the most for me, at least where I would like to do my best,” he added.

“I’m not going into Roland Garros as one of the main favourites. Maybe that can help, I don’t know, we’ll see.”

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