PARIS: Novak Djokovic begins the defense of his French Open title at Roland Garros on Tuesday, confident his Grand Slam pedigree will help turn around his lacklustre season as tournament chiefs battled a frustrating five-hour rain delay.
By late afternoon on the third day, only four of the scheduled 40 first-round ties had been completed.
Two-time runner-up Casper Ruud and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina were safely back in the locker room having benefitted from playing under the roofs of the Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen courts.
World number one Djokovic, seeking a fourth Roland Garros title and record-extending 25th major, is enduring his worst run since 2018.
Djokovic, 37, has not won a title in 2024 and has yet to make a final with semifinal spots at the Australian Open and Monte Carlo Masters his best performances.
He also suffered the indignity of being accidentally hit on the head by a metal water bottle in Rome which caused nausea and dizziness.
In Geneva last week, where he was knocked out by Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, Djokovic said he had been suffering from a stomach problem.
“They are rather bumps on the road,” said Djokovic, who watched his long-time rival and 14-time champion Rafael Nadal bow out of the tournament against Alexander Zverev on Monday.
When asked to elaborate further on his difficulties so far this season, Djokovic opted for discretion.
“Various things have been happening in the last couple of months, but I don’t want to get into it. I don’t want to open Pandora’s Box.”
On Tuesday, Djokovic will take on French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert, the world number 142 who hasn’t won a match on the main tour this year.
Ruud, who won clay-court titles in Barcelona and Geneva in the build-up to Roland Garros, cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves.
“It’s great to be back here at Roland Garros,” he said. “Hopefully I can make it another good year here.”
Ruud was beaten in straight sets by Novak Djokovic in last year’s final following a one-sided loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 showpiece.
He also lost the 2022 US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz.
Frenchwoman Alize Cornet’s career ended with a straight-sets defeat by Zheng Qinwen in her record-extending 69th consecutive Grand Slam appearance.
Cornet was no match for China’s Australian Open runner-up Zheng, losing 6-2, 6-1.
She made her debut at Roland Garros as a 15-year-old in 2005 and has not missed a Grand Slam tournament since the 2006 US Open.
Cornet reached a career-high ranking of 11th in 2009 and enjoyed a surprise run to the 2022 Australian Open quarter-finals.
“I already cried yesterday watching Rafa,” said a tearful Cornet after seeing Nadal lose what was likely his last match at the French Open on Monday.
Over on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Rybakina powered into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Belgian Greet Minnen and could face three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber for a place in the last 32.
Kazakh world number four Rybakina is the only player to defeat tournament favorite Iga Swiatek on clay this season, in the Stuttgart semifinals in April.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka gets her bid to reach a first Roland Garros final underway.
The world number two has reached at least the semifinals in each of the past six Grand Slam events.
Sabalenka is also the only woman to beat world number one and three-time French Open winner Swiatek in a final on clay — in Madrid last year — since the Pole lost her first WTA title decider as a teenager in 2019 at a low-key event in Switzerland.
The 26-year-old Sabalenka had never even reached the second week at Roland Garros until last year, when she was knocked out by Karolina Muchova in the semifinals.
She starts her Paris campaign against Russia’s Erika Andreeva.
Also on court in the men’s singles is Argentine qualifier Roman Andres Burruchaga who has sporting success in the blood.
His father Jorge famously scored the winning goal for Diego Maradona’s Argentina in the 1986 World Cup final against West Germany.
Ranked at 144, the 22-year-old is making his Grand Slam debut and takes on Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
Djokovic eyes season turnaround as rain brings havoc to French Open
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Djokovic eyes season turnaround as rain brings havoc to French Open
- World number one Djokovic, seeking a fourth Roland Garros title and record-extending 25th major, is enduring his worst run since 2018
- He also suffered the indignity of being accidentally hit on the head by a metal water bottle in Rome which caused nausea and dizziness
History-chasing Djokovic and Alcaraz to meet in Australian Open final after epic semifinal wins
- Carlos Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam
- Novak Djokovic is aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic finally beat one of the two men who have been blocking his path to an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title when he edged Jannik Sinner in five sets Friday to reach the Australian Open final.
To get that coveted No. 25, he’ll next have to beat the other: top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
They’re both chasing history in Sunday’s championship decider, with the 22-year-old Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam.
The top-ranked Alcaraz also had to come through a grueling five-setter. He fended off No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in a match that started in the warmth of the afternoon Friday and, 5 hours and 27 minutes later, became the longest semifinal ever at the Australian Open.
That pushed the start of Djokovic’s match against Sinner back a couple of hours, and the 38-year-old Djokovic finally finished off a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win just after 1:30 a.m.
“It feels surreal,” Djokovic said of his 4-hour, 9-minute triumph. “Honestly, it feels like winning already tonight. I know I have to come back … and fight the No. 1 of the world. I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to stay toe-to-toe with him.
“That’s my desire. Let the God decide the winner.”
Djokovic was at the peak of his defensive powers, fending off 16 of the 18 breakpoints he faced against the two-time defending Australian Open champion. It ended a run of five losses to Sinner, and a run of four semifinal exits for Djokovic at the majors.
“Had many chances, couldn’t use them, and that’s the outcome,” Sinner said. “Yeah, it hurts, for sure.”
Alcaraz and Sinner have split the last eight major titles between them since Djokovic won his last title at the 2023 US Open.
Nobody knows how to win more at Melbourne Park than Djokovic. He has won all 10 times he’s contested the Australian Open final.
He said he saw Alcaraz after the first of the semifinals was over and he congratulated him on reaching his first final at Melbourne Park.
“He said sorry to delay,” Djokovic later explained. “I told him ‘I’m an old man, I need to go earlier to sleep!”
Djokovic, aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title, was kept up late.
“I’m looking forward to meeting him on Sunday,” he said.
Final 4
With the top four seeds reaching the Australian Open men’s semifinals for just the fifth time, Day 13 was destined to produce some drama. The season-opening major had been a relatively slow burn, until the back-to-back five-setters lasting a combined 9 hours and 36 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev, the 2025 runner-up, surpassed the 2009 classic between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco as the longest ever Australian Open semifinal.
Medical timeout
Alcaraz was as close as two points from victory in the third set but was hampered by pain in his upper right leg and his medical timeout became contentious.
He said initially it didn’t feel like cramping because the pain seemed to be just in one muscle, the right adductor, and he needed an assessment.
He navigated the third and fourth sets and was behind in the fifth after dropping serve in the first game. He kept up the pressure but didn’t break back until Zverev was serving for the match. He then won the last four games.
“I think physically we just pushed each other to the limit today. We pushed our bodies to the limit,” Alcaraz said. “Just really, really happy to get the win, that I came back. I just rank this one in the top position of one of the best matches that I have ever won.”
Believe
Asked how he was able to recover despite being so close to defeat, Alcaraz admitted he was struggling but said kept “believing, believing, all the time.”
“I’ve been in these situations, I’ve been in these kinds of matches before, so I knew what I had to do,” he said. “I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it. I fought until the last ball.”
Zverev was demonstrably upset about the time out out in the third set, taking it up with a tournament supervisor, when his rival was given the three-minute break for treatment and a massage on the leg.
After the match, he maintained that he didn’t think it was right, but he didn’t think it should overshadow the match.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia,” he said “It doesn’t deserve to be the topic now.”
