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.

The post Novak Djokovic: a riddle wrapped in a French Open mystery appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

Anguish that he had just pulled up sharply after lunging for a forehand as he trailed Mackenzie McDonald by a set and a break. Concern about what it would mean for his defence of the Australian Open title. Disbelief that, after struggling with a career-threatening foot injury, a cracked rib and two abdominal tears over the past year, he had suffered a fresh setback at the worst of moments, and on the very same stage where he was forced to retire with a torn hip flexor against Marin Cilic five years ago.

A couple of points after his hip gave way, the Spaniard abandoned an attempt to run down a scorching McDonald forehand. At that moment, as he crouched in front of his box in evident distress, he must have known it was all over. Yet, driven by the magnitude of the occasion and his respect for an opponent whose outstanding ball-striking may well have earned him the win irrespective of Nadal’s plight, the 36-year-old refused to quit.

Nadal, who limped his way through the latter stages of a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 defeat, said afterwards that he was “mentally destroyed” by the manner of his exit.

“I considered all the time stopping, but I didn’t ask the physiotherapist,” said Nadal. “I have to know myself. I tried to keep playing without increasing the damage, that’s it. I was not able to hit the backhand at all. I was not able to run for the ball. But I just wanted to finish the match.

“I didn’t want to retire, being the defending champion here. I didn’t want to leave the court with a retirement. Better like this at the end. I lost. Nothing to say. Congratulate the opponent.

“It’s a tough moment,” added Nadal. “I can’t say that I am not destroyed mentally at this time, because I would be lying.”

After a fallow period that has now brought just two wins from his past nine outings, many will wonder how much more his ailing physique can endure. Following last summer’s epic Wimbledon win over Taylor Fritz, when he pushed through the pain of a torn abdominal muscle despite his family’s pleas to stop, this was the second time in six months he has pushed his body beyond the natural limits of endurance. There were no such interventions from his box on this occasion, although the sight of his wife, Maria, wiping away tears summed up the prevailing mood.  

Nadal has consistently played down talk of following Roger Federer into retirement. He put Alexander Zverev in his place earlier this week after the German predicted that he would retire at Roland Garros this summer – “I have a very good relationship with Zverev, but not enough to confess something like that to him,” said Nadal – and he reaffirmed his commitment to the game following his loss.

“I really hope that this doesn’t put me out for a long time, because then it’s tough to make all the recovery again,” said Nadal. “I went through this process too many times in my career, and I am ready to keep doing that, but it’s not easy, without a doubt.”

Nadal’s difficulties should not eclipse an outstanding performance by McDonald. The 65th-ranked American showed admirable self-belief, happily exchanging baseline blows with the 22-time grand slam champion and frequently forcing him into the corners with his flatter ball-striking. The 27-year-old broke twice in each of the first two sets, on each occasion reasserting his authority when Nadal replied in kind, and coped well with the tricky task of handling a lame opponent in the third. 

“With him, it’s never over until it’s over,” said McDonald, who will meet Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, the 31st seed, in the third round. “He didn’t even want to roll over and quit. He kept fighting until basically the end, even though he maybe didn’t have all his game.”

The wider question, perhaps, is why Nadal, who became a father in October, should want to keep fighting at all, especially after his earliest exit at a major in seven years. His answer, in spite of a lingering farewell to Rod Laver Arena that had a hint of finality about it, was characteristically clear. 

“It’s a very simple thing: I like what I do,” said Nadal. “I like playing tennis. I know it’s not forever. I like to feel myself competitive. I like to fight for the things that I have been fighting for almost half of my life or even more.  

“And that’s it. It’s not that complicated to understand, no? When you like to do one thing, at the end, sacrifices always make sense.”

The post Nadal ‘mentally destroyed’ after Australian Open exit appeared first on Love Game Tennis.