"I hiked a lot with my wife, spent some quality time with her" - Novak Djokovic on skipping all grasscourt tournaments before Wimbledon 2023

Novak Djokovic has disclosed that he took some time off after his French Open triumph to mentally refresh himself before beginning his Wimbledon title defence.

Unlike many players, Djokovic skipped all grasscourt tournaments in the leadup to the Wimbledon Championships this year. He is not new to missing warmup tournaments heading into the grass Major.

Before the Serbian's first SW19 title win in 2011, he played just one exhibition event. He played no events before his 2014 win and his 2015 triumph saw him play only an exhibition event.

Djokovic's last three Wimbledon titles in 2019, 2021, and 2022 came with him not taking part in any pre-tournament events. When asked about how he prepared himself heading into the tournament this year, the 36-year-old stated that he spent time in Azores, Portugal, with his wife.

"I didn't play in Azores. I actually hiked a lot with my wife, I took some time, spent some quality time with her. What wonderful islands you have there. It's fantastic. Quite remote, though. When we were supposed to take off, we couldn't. We were stuck because of the fog. We had to fly the next day," he said in a press conference.

"Amazing, amazing food. Amazing people. Very friendly," he added. "It was great because I've been through a lot of different emotions during the clay season, particularly obviously reaching the climax in Paris, and I needed to get away, get isolated a little bit."

Djokovic admitted that he had always planned to skip all pre-Wimbledon tournaments if he reached the business end of the French Open.

"I had a pretty active recovery there, but still mentally felt refreshed when I came back. It was never in the plan if I would go to reach the final stages of Roland Garros that I would play any grass court event. I haven't done that in the last I think four years, and before that as well," he explained.

"I haven't played lead-up events because I just felt that it's probably better for me to take an extra week of training to get used to the grass, the movement, the specifics of grass court tennis, what it requires from the player. Different tactics, different game style," he added.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion further stated that he was too exhausted physically and emotionally to be in competitive action before his Wimbledon title defence.

"Ideally, yes, you want to play one or two or three official matches. But, yeah, just too short of a time. I was too exhausted physically, emotionally. I just needed to regroup. It has worked the last four years. No reason to believe it cannot work again. It's a long tournament. So far I'm feeling good," he admitted.

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Novak Djokovic makes confident start to Wimbledon 2023, sails through to second round

Novak Djokovic in action at Wimbledon 2023.

Novak Djokovic began his 2023 Wimbledon Championships campaign with a straight-sets win against Pedro Cachin on Monday, July 3.

Djokovic, chasing his fifth consecutive title at SW19, dropped serve in the third game of the match. However, he stayed focused to clinch a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win in two hours and 11 minutes.

It's worth noting that the match wasn't as straightforward as the score suggested. Rain caused the contest to be paused for one hour and 29 minutes after the first set.

In the second round, the Serbian is set to lock horns with Jordan Thompson, who downed Brandon Nakashima 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in his opening match.