World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has been near-unassailable over the past two years, and with a new coach, new diet and fitter than before, looks like he could break his French Open jinx.
The Serb, one of the top clay-court players of the game in terms of win percentages, has yet to find success on the claycourts of Roland-Garros. He has made the finals on three occasions, thwarted twice by nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, and once, most recently by Swiss Stan Wawrinka.
Despite having won only a single clay title this year – at the Madrid Masters – Djokovic still remains the favourite to win the French Open. Given Rafael Nadal is in the same half as the World No. 1 fans will not be able to see a finals clash between the pair, but things could get interesting given Nadal’s resurgence to form in the clay season; the Spaniard, the most successful claycourt player of all time, swept titles at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open this year.
On his 29th birthday, we take a look at five of Djokovic’s French Open appearances that truly stand out:
Vs Rafael Nadal, French Open quarter-final 2015
The top-ranked player faced 9-time champion Rafael Nadal relatively early on in the tournament, and despite Nadal’s immense success it was Djokovic who went into the match the favourite to win.
Sixth seed Nadal was thoroughly dominated by Djokovic well into the first set, up two breaks of serve on the Spaniard at 4-0. Suddenly, Nadal found a renewed momentum to claw his way back, winning four successive games to equalize Djokovic.
He then came level again at 5-5 with Nadal’s storming serve proving only to confuse Djokovic. He would ultimately struggle till he won that set 7-5.
The second set began fairly routinely, with each player holding serve and neither really picking up the pace; and it was then that Djokovic upped the tempo. He pulled out strong backhands, forehands and every trick in the book to take a 5-3 lead over his Spanish rival.
At this point, proficient baseliner Novak Djokovic pulled off a risky move – bringing out the serve-and-volley, and to fantastic effect. The move left Nadal flummoxed near the net and unable to combat the Serb’s attack.
Djokovic won the second set 6-3 – and with it sealed the match with a final set to go.
His phenomenal return with tactical genius saw Nadal’s momentum seriously broken. Thereafter, Djokovic all but cleaned the floor with Nadal, lading 5-1 with Nadal holding a single service game in the entire set. He’d win the final set 6-1 after Nadal taxing him in the first, with Nadal’s resolve and his serve both broken in the end.
Vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Quarter-final 2012
Tsonga, playing his first-ever quarter-final at his home Grand Slam, played Djokovic relatively early on at Roland Garros that year. He had crumbled quickly in the first set, losing 1-6 in an embarrassing 20-minute set loss.
The tall Frenchman suddenly found a resurgence in energy to successively take the next two sets 7-5 – this time putting Djokovic on the back foot instead.
It was then that Djokovic pulled out all the stops to take the fourth set to a final point tiebreaker, by which point he had also broken Tsonga’s momentum. That left him free to finish the final set off 6-1 and survive a five-set scare from the French player
Vs Philipp Kohlschreiber, 4R 2013
In the round of 16 at the 2013 French Open, Novak Djokovic was on the cusp of a semi-final spot, but had unfortunately been stricken by a severe personal loss only the day before.
His childhood coach, Serbian tennis player Jelena Gencic, had passed away only a day earlier, and still reeling from the loss, Djokovic committed unforced errors and, visibly agitated, dropped the first set, smashing his racket as he threw it in anger.
He lost the first set 4-6, but came back spectacularly to win the next set 6-3 and the final two sets in quick succession. After committing six unforced errors in the first set and completely losing focus, Djokovic managed to secure his quarterfinal berth – a win he dedicated to the woman who had coached him since the age of 6.
vs Roger Federer, 2011 semi-final
A veritable battle of the greats at the 2011 French Open saw Djokovic and nemesis Roger Federer in the same half and vying for a spot in the finals. Djokovic played out of his skin on a 41 match-winning streak, playing a Roger Federer on top of his game.
The pair played such a spectacularly close game that all their spectators, a certain Rafael Nadal included, thought Djokovic would seize it. It was only due to the sheer perfection of Roger Federer’s own strokeplay that the Swiss managed to win that game – which he would go on to describe as the ‘game of my life.’
Described by Nadal as “... the greatest of the moment against the greatest of [the] history”, the match saw the Serb serving out for the fourth set and giving it his all against the man who has gone on to become his arch-rival. Federer wrested control at set point to eventually turn it on its head, winning 7-5 and eventually the semi-final tie despite the Serb being on the verge of forcing a fifth set.
vs Andreas Seppi, 4R 2012
Top seeded at the 2012 French Open, Djokovic was the widely considered favourite. Up against Italy’s Andreas Seppi, the Serb lost control in the fifth game of the match, with Seppi taking full advantage of his rival’s lack of concentration. The Italian broke and held to take a 4-2 lead against Djokovic, who was low on energy and flagging in rainy conditions.
Seppi would go on to win the first set 6-4, then continued to play a consistent game as Djokovic struggled, managing to force a tiebreak in the second – but the Italian still remained on top of his game, with Djokovic now at a two-set deficit.
The Serb pulled off a comeback in the fourth set to take a quick lead as Seppi appeared to be losing momentum, but then the lower-ranked player saved four break points to fend off the baseliner’s quick attack.
The current World No. 1 managed to take advantage of Seppi’s lowered energy levels to quickly snap up the third set 6-3.
It was during that fourth set that Djokovic came properly back into his own, with stunning cross-court forehands that left Seppi bamboozled and would eventually spell the final nail in the coffin for the Italian’s momentum.
After a two-set deficit, Djokovic took two sets in quick succession and then broke Seppi early in the decider to prevent perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament.
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