Novak Djokovic's history as the No. 2 seed and what that says about his French Open 2023 chances

Novak Djokovic is currently the World No. 1 in the ATP rankings but he will drop to second at the end of the Italian Open, with Carlos Alcaraz's participation in the tournament enough to see him dethrone the Serb.

Djokovic was unable to compete at the Madrid Open due to an elbow injury and thus, could not defend his semifinal points from last year's tournament. With Alcaraz successfully defending his title, the Serb will not be the World No. 1 following the conclusion of the Italian Open.

This would mean that Djokovic will enter the French Open as the second seed. The clay-court Major will be the Serb's 70th Grand Slam and the 11th time when he will be the second seed.

Out of the previous ten occasions, Djokovic has won thrice; at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, the 2014 Wimbledon Championships and the 2020 Australian Open. He had two runner-up finishes, a semifinal exit, three quarterfinal eliminations and a disastrous second-round exit at the 2017 Australian Open.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion had two appearances at the French Open as the second seed, the first of which was the 2011 edition. This was Djokovic's first Grand Slam where he was among the top two seeds and he reached the semifinals before losing 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) to Roger Federer.

His next appearance as the second seed at the clay-court Major came in 2014 and this time, he went all the way to the final but got beaten 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 by Rafael Nadal.

What does Novak Djokovic's second seed history say about his chances at the French Open 2023?

Novak Djokovic at the Monte-Carlos Masters 2023

Novak Djokovic's history as the second seed in Grand Slams may not be the greatest but it still is a pretty decent one considering he won three Majors and reached at least the final on five of his previous ten occasions.

The Serb is yet to win a French Open as seed two but did make it to the business stages of the tournament in his two appearances with the tag. He will be expected to do the same in 2023 and it won't be a surprise if he wins.

However, Djokovic will no doubt face a few obstacles along the way, arguably the biggest of which is Carlos Alcaraz, who the Serb himself described as the "player to beat on clay" in his most recent press conference in Rome.

Then, there is Rafael Nadal, who will be a Major threat if he competes at the French Open regardless of not playing any prior matches on the surface this season.