Djokovic Eager to Regain Form Ahead of French Open Defense 

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic reacts during a press conference on the eve of his first match at the ATP 250 Geneva Open tennis tournament, in Geneva, on May 21, 2024. (AFP)
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic reacts during a press conference on the eve of his first match at the ATP 250 Geneva Open tennis tournament, in Geneva, on May 21, 2024. (AFP)
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Djokovic Eager to Regain Form Ahead of French Open Defense 

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic reacts during a press conference on the eve of his first match at the ATP 250 Geneva Open tennis tournament, in Geneva, on May 21, 2024. (AFP)
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic reacts during a press conference on the eve of his first match at the ATP 250 Geneva Open tennis tournament, in Geneva, on May 21, 2024. (AFP)

World number one Novak Djokovic is hoping to get a few matches under his belt at this week's Geneva Open ahead of his title defense at Roland Garros, after recovering from a freak injury he suffered this month.

Djokovic has struggled this season and has yet to win a tournament in 2024.

The 24-times Grand Slam champion's preparations for the French Open have been far from ideal, beginning with a loss to Casper Ruud in the Monte Carlo semi-finals.

He then opted to skip the Madrid Open before losing in the third round of the Italian Open, two days after he was hit on the head by a fan's water bottle while signing autographs.

The Serbian, who said he felt out of sorts during his 6-2 6-3 loss to Alejandro Tabilo, told reporters on Tuesday: "The head is good. All is well. I've trained for over a week and I'm feeling fine.

"I've dedicated quite a bit of time with my new fitness coach to build the endurance, to build physical strength and capabilities that I need in order to play a best-of-five Grand Slam on the physically most demanding surface, which is clay.

"So, hopefully, I'm going to get more than one match here in Geneva, that's the goal and then let's see what happens in Paris."

In his first match in Geneva on Wednesday, Djokovic will face German Yannick Hanfmann, who beat three-times Grand Slam champion Andy Murray earlier in the tournament.

"The reason why I chose to come and play is because I feel like, at this moment, there is no better practice for me than match play," Djokovic said.

"I feel like I need more matches, even if it's one match, two matches, three, four hopefully. It's good for me, because that's the way for me to try to find that kind of form that I need for Roland Garros."



Own-Goals Lead the Way in the Scoring Chart After Bizarre Start to Euro 2024 

Italy's Riccardo Calafiori (5) scores an own goal during a Group B match between Spain and Italy at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP)
Italy's Riccardo Calafiori (5) scores an own goal during a Group B match between Spain and Italy at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP)
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Own-Goals Lead the Way in the Scoring Chart After Bizarre Start to Euro 2024 

Italy's Riccardo Calafiori (5) scores an own goal during a Group B match between Spain and Italy at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP)
Italy's Riccardo Calafiori (5) scores an own goal during a Group B match between Spain and Italy at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP)

There’s just no stopping the top scorer at the European Championship.

Own-goals lead the way in the scoring chart, with the fifth one of the tournament coming Thursday through Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori in his team’s 1-0 loss to Spain.

The other unfortunate players to score in their own net were Germany’s Antonio Rüdiger, Austria’s Maximilian Wöber, the Czech Republic’s Robin Hranáč and Albania’s Klaus Gjasula.

These five have come from just 18 games so far. There were a tournament-record 11 own-goals at the last edition three years ago.

In an unusual start to Euro 2024, only one player has two goals — Germany forward Jamal Musiala — and 40 players have scored one goal. Gjasula has scored for and against his country.

There’s also this unlikely stat: None of the 47 goals have been penalties.