Krajinovic expects to play a good match with his friend

Filip Krajinovic, ranked 78th in the world, has arrived to Banjaluka in a good mood. In the first round, he will be playing against his good friend, Dusan Lajovic.

The Serbian champion is hoping to have a successful tournament although he did hint that the upper part of the draw he finds himself in is very difficult. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is in the lower part of the draw as well.

At the beginning, Krajinovic has underlined that he feels good in Banjaluka and added:

– I’m glad to be back in Banjaluka where everything is well prepared. I played a Challenger here like a decade ago. Unfortunately, I will be playing against Dusan Lajovic in the first round, and although the two of us are good friends, I will have to put friendship to one side.

He has recently ended his professional collaboration with Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki has been been helping him at the Srpska Open tournament.

– Troicki is my Davis Cup captain and we work well together. He is with me on the tennis court whenever he can. Mate Delic is a friend of mine, as well as Goran Tosic. I don’t have an official coach right now but I’m glad Tosic is always there for me. I hope to find new coach in the near future. Unfortunately, I ended my professional collaboration with Janko for the second time after the tournament in Dubai. We did not succeed and we’ll see what happens next. It’s a very sensitive issue and I don’t want to hurry into something. I haven’t been playing well and I lack confidence so I need someone with experience.

Krajinovic also commented on the main draw, namely his expectations regarding his participation at the Srpska Open tournament.

-I don’t know how far I can go. Every match is a challenge. Lajović is in a good shape, he likes clay, it will be a challenge. This part of the draw is pretty demanding, with many local players, Novak is there too. We’ll see what happens.

Krajinović practiced with Damir Dzumhur yesterday and only had words of praise for the tennis player from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

– I can see that Damir is getting into shape again. I wish him all the best. We played against each other in the finals of some tournament in Banjaluka ages ago; I don’t even remember the name of the tournament. Hopefully, he returns where he belongs.

Finally, Krajinovic has also mentioned future tournaments and highlighted that his goal is to enter the main draw at the US Open but that he will have to play several Challengers in order to get there.

– Unfortunately, my plans have changed. I did not plan to play smaller tournaments but I did not get off the season on the right foot so I will have to. I will compete in Rome and Madrid, followed by Roland-Garros and I will play at a Challenger in the meantime. I will not play on grass surface after Paris and I plan to focus on smaller tournaments. Grass surface is a bit of a “Russian roulette” although I did reach the final at the Queen’s Championships last year. I have to participate at smaller tournaments in order to gather enough points to qualify for the main draw at the US Open.”