Novak Djokovic told how to surpass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in Grand Slam order

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Two-time French Open finalist Alex Corretja has claimed that while Novak Djokovic does not need to feature in every single tournament to stand the best chance of winning Grand Slam titles, the Serb should ensure that he plays regularly enough to maintain his sharpness. Djokovic will be hoping to curb Rafael Nadal’s dominance at Roland Garros later this month to win his 19th major tournament and his second since the turn of the year.

The 34-year-old claimed yet another Australian Open win back in February, cruising past Daniil Medvedev with a straight-sets victory in the final at the Rod Laver Arena.

However, Djokovic still remains two Grand Slam triumphs adrift of his ‘Big Three’ rivals, with Nadal and Roger Federer sitting pretty on 20 titles each.

The former has previously admitted that catching up to the pair is now a top priority, but whether he will be able to achieve this feat before calling time on his career remains to be seen.

Corretja, who lifted the Davis Cup with Spain in 2000, has suggested that Djokovic needs to focus on playing plenty of matches in order to aid his lofty ambitions.

“He doesn’t need to play all of the time, but definitely he needs rhythm to be able to get into the Slams and be able to win,” Corretja told Tennishead.

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“He has the kind of game that he needs to put a lot of balls on the court to get the feeling that he wants. The good thing for him is that when he plays many of the players, they play similar to him but at a different level.

“Most of the guys now they hit very hard with the serve, the forehand and the two-handed backhand, so they face a mirror but a better mirror than they are, so that’s why players have so many problems with Novak.

“But for that he needs to get matches under his belt because otherwise it’s difficult for him.

“The thing with Novak, even if he’s number one in the world and winning so many majors, is that when he plays he really needs to put in effort, he’s not like other players who used to win a little bit easier.

“He doesn’t hit that many winners because I don’t think his forehand… he has a very good forehand but he doesn’t have an unbelievable killer forehand so that makes you play.

“I think he has solved that with a better serve and very good footwork, but at the same time he needs to still play matches to get the feeling and especially his movement. Mobility is very important to his game.”

Despite urging Djokovic to stay sharp by keeping to a busy schedule, Corretja stressed that the Belgrade native should pick and choose his tournaments, claiming that his decision to snub this year’s events in Miami and Madrid was the right one.

“I think it’s very smart to do that, because if he plays a lot of tournaments he’s consuming a lot of energy for tournaments which, at this moment in his career, are not going to add anything special,” added Corretja.

“If he’s got 36 Masters 1000’s, or 38 or 40, no one would really care. However, adding another major, everyone will care about that and especially him.

“In order to do that, he needs to select which tournaments are going to give him the rhythm he needs to get perfect for the Grand Slam.”

Djokovic has competed in every ATP tournament on clay in the lead-up to the French Open, but has failed to claim the top prize at any of those four events.

He unexpectedly lost to Dan Evans at the Monte-Carlo Masters before tasting defeat at the hands of Aslan Karatsev and Nadal in Serbia and Italy respectively.

The five-time Wimbledon champion will return to his home city in search of redemption at next week’s Belgrade Open before the upcoming Grand Slam event gets underway at Roland Garros.

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