Is it time for the French Open Novak Djokovic? ‘If only the unthinkable happened in the world No 1 Jannik Sinner’ | Tennis News

Is the French Open Novak Djokovic’s chance to finally win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam? “It could happen, but only if the unthinkable happens to world No 1 Jannik Sinner,” said Sky Sports lead pundit Jonathan Overend.

For all his experience, however – the 39-year-old shares the record 24 Grand Slam titles with Margaret Court – Djokovic heads into this year’s French Open unprepared.

But the Serb began his latest bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title by crossing a milestone and a difficult hurdle. with a 5-7 7-5 6-1 6-4 victory in the first round against local hope Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Djokovic lost Croatian sorting Dino Prizmic at the Italian Open – after two months out with a right shoulder injury.

But with Carlos Alcaraz, two-time French Open champion, Out with an injured wrist, Djokovic sees an opportunity to move into the lower draw.

“The absence of Alcaraz is a big problem in the tournament and it hurts the tennis a lot because the story of the men’s game is Sinner and Alcaraz and it is a rivalry and he will win more,” said Overend.

“Will they continue to win the big prizes by paying everyone and now it makes it a situation where we have a big favorite for the Grand Slam title, more than we had for sure than I can remember.

“I can’t remember a time when we’ve had a Grand Slam favorite. When you think we’re talking about seven match wins and best of five sets, there’s a lot of risk involved. There’s a lot of good opponents, a lot of things that can go wrong, over a long period of 14 days.

“To have a huge favorite like Sinner is incredibly rare and that’s good for the tournament as a whole? Not because you want to build a story in those two weeks before the weird ending and we’re not going to get a repeat of last year’s classic final.

“The matches between them were nothing short of epic – certainly compared to the finals at Roland-Garros, so you wonder when the next time will be when we see a classic Sinner-Alcaraz match and it won’t be this summer which is a huge shame.”

What does it mean about drag?

Should Djokovic improve in the draw he could meet top-ranked Sinner, who is on a 29-match winning streak, in the finals.

Overend said: “I was surprised Djokovic came out of the other half of the draw against Sinner. That, for me, would have been an interesting match.

“Being number 3 and coming out of the bottom half of the draw means Sinner’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who comes from number 4, and Ben Shelton who comes from number 5, and those are two guys who have struggled to get match wins in the last few weeks on clay.

“Granted, Shelton won the clay title in Munich, but that group of players between five and ten have struggled this clay season – certainly at the Masters level. I’m not so sure, why!

“If you’re Soni you’re thinking, ‘okay’, this went well for me the way the game ended, but with Djokovic in the other half, it begs the question what happens if Sinner gets upset in the morning or something happens to him, which is possible.”

He continued: “We’ve seen injuries to the wall like Alexander Zverev when he was leading Rafael Nadal. We’ve seen people have to come out because of illness and this can and will happen to Sinner and if it happens, Djokovic will say ‘okay, this is my time’ because it’s only one of Sinner and Alcaraz in the draw, it gives that little bit of Novak.

“And if the unthinkable happens and Sinner goes out early I’d expect Djokovic to go through the bottom tier.

“Would it be a record-breaking Grand Slam? I think it would be – if something happens to Sinner. If he plays Sinner in the final, the Italian will be the favourite.

“It’s sad in the way that we go around looking for news or things that are upsetting because that’s the beauty of the Grand Slam. You’re upset and I think it’s a sign of how clear Sinner and Alcaraz are that you can count on one hand the number of people who have a slim chance of beating Sinner at the French Open or this year’s Wimbledon French Open.”

Wimbledon’s biggest upset?

Sinner will also head to Wimbledon as favorite to retain his title, but Overend has pointed to shock defeats in the past, particularly when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were stunned.

Can the unthinkable happen to Soni?

“At Wimbledon, I was on Center Court when Lukas Rosol beat Nadal and no one saw that and actually when Nick Kyrgios beat Nadal. The Australian was young at the time and very few thought the upset would happen,” he said.

“I remember tipping the BBC’s Mark Chapman that Kyrgios might beat Nadal, and Sergiy Stakhovsky beating Roger Federer. They’re few and far between, but they take the odd one out a day.

“Stakhovsky was playing and hitting the ball, Rosol hitting the cover on every ball he had. That’s what it took to beat Federer and Nadal in those days and that’s what it would take to beat Sinner at Wimbledon.

“You look around and think, who can really do that? Can someone like Alexander Bublik show up and play the way he did against Sinner in Halle last summer? Maybe, but over three sets? It just makes it less likely when you get into the Grand Slam format.

“Sinner is a big favorite at Wimbledon and every Grand Slam until we see Alcaraz again.”

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