Novak Djokovic: '12 months ago I had different feelings'

defeated in straight sets. A year ago he lost to Hyeon Chung in a straight-set fourth round match as he was dealing with an elbow injury and he would eventually undergo surgery in early February.

Now that he feels painfree, Djokovic enjoys tennis more: It feels great to be healthy and back on this court again, the world No. 1 admitted. 12 months ago it was quite a different sensation on the court with the elbow injury.

12 months forward, obviously things are quite different. I had a tremendous success in the last six months. It got me to a great position. Hopefully I can follow up on this victory tonight with a good performance. Hopefully another good match in a few days.

Asked if a players union could be introduced in tennis, Djokovic replied: Its quite different for us because the unions in other sports are focused on particular countries. For example, in NBA, the union of players has to comply to the legislation of American law.

I mean, in tennis, its quite different. We travel all around the world. We have 63, I think, tournaments, probably that many countries. We are trying to make the most of what we have at the moment. We have this kind of structure and system that is not perfect, but we are here and we are trying to do our best to improve the system, as well.

I think there are definitely certain aspects of the system that need to be improved, without a doubt. But tennis is a bit complex sport in terms of interest sides. You have ATP, you have ITF, you have Grand Slams as independent entities.

You have multiple, 10s of different tournament owners around the world. You have to deal with everyone. In the end of the day, ATP is an organization that is 50% players, 50% tournaments, which in most of the cases is conflict of interest, so…

I think its far more complicated than it actually seems. But it is what it is. As I said, you have to deal with it. ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title