Novak Djokovic says he desperately needs match practice before attempting to lift his fourth Wimbledon trophy when The Championships begin next Monday.
The former world No.1 - now the fourth-best player in the ATP rankings after an erratic 12 months - spoke to the media at the Aegon International in Eastbourne on Monday where he is top seed after accepting a last-minute wild card into the ATP 250 grass court tournament.
The Serb’s decision to play a tour event the week before Wimbledon for the first time since 2006 came as a surprise, but the 30-year-old believes any time he can spend on grass over the next few days will serve him well when he arrives at the All England Club.
“This year I knew I wanted to play [a tournament before Wimbledon], but I thought Queen's and Halle would be too early for me,” said Djokovic, who begins against Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil on Tuesday.
“I wanted to get some rest and get time to properly prepare. But I still wanted to play some matches coming into Wimbledon, because I haven't had too many matches this year all in all.”
With just one title so far in 2017 - the ATP 250 in Doha in January - the 12-time major winner admits confidence and consistency are his two major areas of concern.
“It does feel different than 12 months ago, of course,” he said. “Twelve months ago I had four Grand Slams under my belt, and coming into Wimbledon, completely different, you know, mentally than I am today. I still have to trust myself, my abilities to play well, and to win against anybody on any surface.
“I have that in the back of my mind. I will just try to reach that consistency level that I need, because I felt like that's something that I was lacking. It was better in the last two months, but I have days where I play really well and days where it's a bit different.”
I still have to trust myself, my abilities to play well, and to win against anybody on any surface.
Djokovic confirmed Andre Agassi will be alongside him once more for the third Grand Slam of the year after the two began working together in Paris. The American is expected to arrive in SW19 this weekend.
“He will be in London for Wimbledon,” Djokovic said. “He will stay as long as I stay in the tournament, so that's great news. Getting to know him in Paris, I can see how much he cares about the game, how much he knows the game.
"It was very interesting to hear his perspective on tennis before and now, current tennis, how he analyses my game and what he sees with things moving forward to improve and try to get back on the level desired.”
The 2011, 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon champion will be hoping he can find that desired level when he takes on Pospisil, a player with a fast-court game capable of causing headaches for the best in the world. Just ask Andy Murray, who the Canadian beat in straight sets in Indian Wells in March.
Although Pospisil is currently ranked 71 places lower than Djokovic, his pedigree on grass is impressive as a former Wimbledon doubles champion in 2014 and a singles quarter-finalist a year later. The 27-year-old has already picked up nine grass court victories in the last three weeks, the most recent of those a 6-3, 6-4 success over Jiri Vesely on Monday.
But after three days of practice since arriving in Eastbourne on Saturday - including a lengthy Monday lunchtime workout with Russian Andrey Kuznetsov - Djokovic says his decision to add Eastbourne to his schedule has so far been positive.
“I think playing generally on grass, any kind of grass court, is great preparation, because we don't really get to have, as I have said, too many weeks around the year to play on this very unique surface,” he said.
“I look forward to play first match tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'll have few more days here and every day counts.”
Elsewhere at Devonshire Park, Pospisil was joined in round two by American Donald Young, who beat Britain’s Kyle Edmund in three sets. Another American, Jared Donaldson, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson and Australian Bernard Tomic also enjoyed first round wins.
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