In a brief press conference of barely five minutes on Monday, on the eve of his Rolex Paris Masters opener against Valentin Vacherot, the main news from Novak Djokovic was that his upturn since the US Open, highlighted by his seventh Beijing title, has come as his physical problems have eased. Answering a question from Tennis Majors, the seven-time champion said he had struggled physically for four months, that it had nothing to do with his preparation, and that he was close to a solution.

“This year the focus shifted to feeling well on the court, because for most of the tournaments that I played, and I didn’t play many, it was health-wise a big struggle,” Djokovic said. “Physically I just struggled a lot, and it had nothing to do with my preparation or whether I’m training enough.”

“Whenever I felt better on the court, and lately that has been the case, we’re really getting closer to solving what I have been going through in the last four months,” he added. “So right away my performance level, my enjoyment on the court, my feeling is great.”

“I see there’s a lot of people that love to express their expert opinion on knowing exactly what’s happening with me. But they don’t.” Among them, Patrick Mouratoglou has suggested that the stress of not feeling ready was behind the problems Djokovic suffered on court.

Djokovic’s season since the US Open

Djokovic had already looked physically diminished well before New York. In Rome in May, he lost his opening match to qualifier Dino Prizmic 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. In Cincinnati in August, he lost to Thiago Agustin Tirante 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 after vomiting during a second-set changeover and needing a medical timeout, then spoke of a long-standing health problem.

The low point came at the US Open, where Djokovic lost to Mariano Navone in the first round after more than four and a half hours, his first opening-round defeat at a Grand Slam since 2006. In tears on his chair during the fifth set, he said afterwards that vomiting and cramping had followed him through almost every match of 2026. The defeat took him out of the top 10, leaving it without Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Djokovic for the first time since 2002.

He returned in Beijing a month later, needing treatment on his abdomen in his first match. After a second medical timeout, he said the issue was “not stamina” but “something else, more related to health”, without saying what. He then beat top seed Alexander Zverev and went on to win his seventh Beijing title, the 102nd of his career, when Alex de Minaur retired in the final.

Three days later, a tired Djokovic lost to Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-3 in his opening match in Shanghai. Last week in Basel, he beat Ugo Humbert to return to the top 10, then lost to Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5), the German’s first win over him in nine meetings.

“Beijing was the best week of the year other than Australia, and I thought I played pretty well in Basel as well, of course,” Djokovic said. “It was a tight match to lose.”

Djokovic needs a deep run in Paris for the ATP Finals

Djokovic, the 10th seed, starts in Paris for the first time since his 2023 title. Eleventh in the Race to Turin, he needs at least the semi-finals to stay in contention for the Nitto ATP Finals. He faces Vacherot, the Basel champion, on Tuesday, with qualifier Rinky Hijikata awaiting the winner.

The Serbian said the Grand Slams remain “the pillars” of the sport, but that he also wants to play well elsewhere. “I’m just trying to enjoy the last couple of weeks of the season on the court, feeling better primarily, as I said,” he said. “And then the performance will come.”