Novak Djokovic will begin his clay court season as scheduled.

The world No. 1 suffered an ankle injury while competing for Serbia against the USA in last weekend's Davis Cup quarterfinals, leaving the state of his clay court season in jeopardy. Djokovic told reporters he could not guarantee that he would be ready to compete this week in the Monte Carlo Masters, but confirmed that he will take the court for his opening round match as scheduled.

"I'm very excited about it to be honest because in the last 6-7 days I've been doing everything in my power after the incident in Davis Cup to recover," he said in a video message to his fans posted yesterday. "My ankle is in a state that is good enough for me to perform tomorrow and hopefully I can perform my best and win and see how it goes day by day."

The Serbian player injured his ankle early on in his Davis Cup match against American Sam Querrey on April 7. He managed to continue on and win the match, but appeared in visible pain throughout the contest.

Djokovic received a bye in the first round and will play against Mikhail Youhzny of Russia in the second round. World No. 2 Andy Murray of Great Britain and world No. 4 Rafael Nadal of Spain are also scheduled to compete in the tournament.

Djokovic was a finalist last year in Monte Carlo. He will play two other warm-up tournaments next month in Rome and Madrid as preparation for the French Open, which takes place from May 25-June 9. It remains the only Grand Slam tournament that the Serbian player has not won.

He has posted an 18-2 record so far in 2013, winning his third consecutive Australian Open title and an ATP Tour event in Dubai.