Roland-Garros 2023 – Men’s singles – Novak Djokovic, favorite despite everything?

Novak Djokovic

Country: Serbia
Age : 36 ans
Ranking: 2nd
Race ranking: 3rd
2023 review: 20 wins, 4 losses

His season on earth

Monte-Carlo (Avril, Masters 1000) : 8th finale
Banja Luka (April, ATP 250): Quarter-final
Rome (Mai, Masters 1000) : Quart de finale

Roland-Garros and him

Novak Djokovic accomplished a unique feat by winning two titles in Paris during Rafael Nadal’s long reign. He is also the only one to ever have beaten the Mallorcan twice near the Porte d’Auteuil, in 2015 and 2021. However, Roland-Garros was for a long time the Serb’s pet peeve. By 2011, he had already won the three other major tricks, but it took him five more years to satisfy his earthly ambition which had ended up turning into an obsession. And to think that he was beaten eight times by Nadal. Without that, imagine for a second his potential record at Roland…

What to expect from him in Paris?

Novak Djokovic is not the inevitable favorite of Roland-Garros while Rafael Nadal is not there. This is enough to sum up the questions surrounding the world number 2 when it comes time to land in Paris. It is an understatement to say that he has not convinced since his return to competition on clay. Contrary to his habit, the Djoker did not manage to gain momentum over the weeks.

Remains a constant given with him: the five-set format makes him much more dangerous and they are probably only a handful who can beat him at Roland-Garros. Nadal out, he has a golden opportunity to become the sole record holder for Grand Slam victories for the first time, which he has so far shared with Federer and Nadal and then with the Spaniard. At 36, Djokovic only lives for the four main tournaments on the calendar and anyone who would risk minimizing his chances of winning the Porte d’Auteuil would do so at his own risk.

To monitor

His body. If Djokovic is far from having evolved at his best level lately, it is undoubtedly partly because he cannot express himself 100% physically. His situation is incomparable with that which Nadal has known for almost a year. The Serb is fit to play, maybe even well enough to win at Roland-Garros. But he is clearly bothered by various sores, starting with this recalcitrant elbow.

The presence or absence of a protective elbow pad served as a barometer for observers in Monte Carlo, Banja Luka and Rome, where the cold and wet playing conditions did not help. “The elbow is not in an ideal situation but I think it’s enough,” he admitted in Bosnia, where he lost in his second match against his compatriot Dusan Lajovic. Will it last throughout the fortnight in Paris? will he leave him alone? The answers to these questions partly depend on its destiny in this 2023 edition.

The stat to keep in mind

Proof that everything is not going well for him this spring, Novak Djokovic has won only five small matches on clay before Roland-Garros. We have to go back to 2006 to find traces of such a fruitless preparation. That year, he had gleaned only one victory. But Djoko was not yet 19 years old.

In 2020, the Serb had also only won five matches, like this season. But the two situations were incomparable. Covid-19 obliges, Roland-Garros was then held in October and the preparation for the Parisian Major had been limited to the Masters 1000 in Rome alone, which Djokovic had won. It therefore only took him one tournament to achieve these five successes. In 2023, he did it three times.