You might imagine that, after a career spanning 22 years, 24 grand slam titles and 428 weeks as world No 1, Novak Djokovic has little left to offer by way of secrets.
Yet the 38-year-old Serbian arrived at Roland Garros, where a fourth title would finally pull him clear of Margaret Court as the most successful player in history, as something of an enigma.
On the one hand, until a few days ago Djokovic had not won a tour-level event since the 2023 ATP Finals. In recent months, he has exited tournaments in Qatar, Indian Wells, Monte Carlo and Madrid without winning a match. His ranking has slipped to sixth, while his coaching partnership with former rival Andy Murray, which the pair originally planned to continue through the French Open, recently came to an abrupt conclusion.
But just as the impression of a great champion on the wane was hardening, Djokovic’s victory at last weekend’s Geneva Open changed the parameters. With four restorative wins behind him – not to mention the 100th title of his career – Djokovic could look forward to his Paris opener against Mackenzie McDonald with his confidence replenished.
His participation in Rafael Nadal’s retirement ceremony on Sunday, when he appeared alongside Roger Federer and Murray, will doubtless have offered a further ego boost, a timely reminder of his place in the sport’s history, while a return to Court Philippe Chatrier, the scene of his extraordinary Olympic triumph over Carlos Alcaraz last summer, will only have intensified the feelgood factor.
The question was, which Djokovic would we see? The guy who has spent much of the year struggling to string two wins together, or the one who said all along that the French Open was the be-all-and-end-all of his clay-court campaign? For once, there was something strangely unknowable about this most familiar of champions.
Perhaps the prevailing sense of uncertainty weighed on the 98th-ranked McDonald. The gifted 30-year-old memorably defeated an injury-stricken Nadal at the 2023 Australian Open, but never looked remotely capable of staging a similar performance here, particularly once Djokovic successfully lobbied officials to get the roof closed after just five games.
It took a few minutes of remonstration from Djokovic – and a few more for the giant retractable canopy to snap into place – but, the moment it did, McDonald’s challenge was effectively extinguished. While the conditions remained slow and the balls heavy, once Djokovic no longer had to contend with the wind, his movement, variety of shot and technical excellence became unanswerable.
“He makes it seem like a video game, almost, for him,” said McDonald. “He’s able to do so much. I don’t even think he was playing his best tennis or his highest level. But if I pushed him to a different point, he would bring it.”
All of which, no doubt, would have been music to the former champion’s ears at the business end of a torrid spring. But was the roof closure a case of star power carrying the day, given that play continued without interruption on the outside courts? Not a bit of it, insisted Djokovic following his 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win.
“I was just asking if and when they were going to make a decision to close the roof and how long we were going to play under that rain,” said the Serb. “It was quite pouring rain out there on the court, because it was affecting the court as well, the court became quite damp and [there were] a lot of bad bounces.
“At one point, the supervisor told me, ‘They’re playing everywhere on the outside courts in the same conditions.’ I said: ‘Yeah, but we are on a court with a roof, so why do you have the roof? What’s the point?’ In the end, they closed the roof, and I think it was better for everyone.”
Djokovic also shed further light on the thinking behind his decision to skip the Italian Open, which he has won six times, and where the courts most closely resemble those at Roland Garros, in favour of taking a wildcard for Geneva, a 250 event where he inevitably encountered a relatively modest level of opposition.
“It was a decision to play Madrid instead of Rome this year,” said Djokovic. “This year I wanted to play Madrid, I haven’t played in a while. I felt like I just didn’t want to play both, as I played Monte Carlo shortly after Miami.
“Geneva was not in the plans, it was not in the schedule. But I was talking with my team and decided to have that, because I didn’t have any – practically, only two – matches on clay.
“I’m the type of player that is required to play a bit more in order to find the right game for clay. It doesn’t come as natural to me as maybe for some other guys. I rarely started really well on clay, if you analyse all of my seasons in my career. So it takes a little bit of time for me to get accustomed with the surface and movement and striking the ball.
“I think it was a good move to go to Geneva, to be honest, because I was also struggling a little bit with my confidence level and doubting my game a bit. So it was good that I got four matches under my belt, won a title. Coming into Roland Garros, it feels different compared to the feeling I had three weeks ago. Let’s see how far I can go here, but I have a good feeling for now.”
Already, Djokovic is beginning to look and sound more like his old self; whether he can ride those positive feelings to the business end of the fortnight remains to be seen.