Novak Djokovic said he had “a good feeling” about his form at the start of his French Open campaign after he took his first step forward in Paris with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 first-round win against Mackenzie McDonald of the US.
On Saturday, Djokovic won the 100th tour-level title of his career at the Geneva Open by beating Hubert Hurkacz in a tough final after trailing by a break in the final set. Rather than celebrating another significant milestone, the 38-year-old’s focus had to shift immediately towards recovering physically and adjusting to the conditions at Roland Garros.
After handling the first challenge well, Djokovic reflected on the decision to take a wildcard at Geneva and his hopes that it will help him as he tries to produce his best form at Roland Garros. “Geneva was not in the plans, it was not in the schedule,” said Djokovic. “But I was talking with my team and decided to have that, because I didn’t have any practically, only two matches on clay. I’m the type of player that is required to play a bit more in order to find the right game for clay. It doesn’t come very natural to me as maybe for some other guys.
“I rarely started really well on clay, if you analyse all of my seasons in my career. So it takes a little bit of time for me to get accustomed with the surface and movement and striking the ball. I think it was a good move to go to Geneva because I was also struggling a little bit with my confidence level, doubting my game a bit. So it was good that I got four matches under my belt, won a title. Coming into Roland Garros, it feels different than I had compared to the feeling I had three weeks ago. Let’s see how far I can go here, but I have a good feeling for now.”
While Djokovic advanced without any problems, Hurkacz did not fare as well. As has been the case in most of his matches this year, the 18-year-old Brazilian João Fonseca drew a large crowd for his match against Hurkacz, with hundreds of spectators queueing outside the entrances to Court seven for a glimpse of a possible future star. “I knew there is going to be a lot of Brazilians here in Paris, a lot of Brazilians living here and they come a lot,” said Fonseca. “I think because of Guga [Gustavo Kuerten], because of the tradition, and there is a lot of Brazilians.”
Those who managed to get in were treated to a remarkable result as Fonseca dismantled Hurkacz, the 30th seed, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at Roland Garros on his tournament debut. Fonseca’s first grand slam win had been a straight-sets defeat of Andrey Rublev, the ninth seed, at the Australian Open.
One year on from her breakthrough run to the semi-finals at the French Open aged 17, Mirra Andreeva opened up her campaign with a calm 6-4, 6-3 win against Cristina Bucșa of Spain. Andreeva, seeded sixth, has enjoyed an incredible year, winning WTA 1000 singles titles in Dubai and Indian Wells. She is one of the clear tournament favourites.
Ons Jabeur, once a favourite herself, did not fare as well. The 30-year-old Tunisian has struggled with numerous injuries over the past few years and is ranked No 36, a long way below her career-high of No 2 and the three grand slam finals she reached in 2022 and 2023. This time, Jabeur fell 7-6 (4), 6-0 to Magdalena Frech of Poland, the 25th seed.
“It’s very difficult indeed,” said Jabeur. “When you’re in the quarter-finals twice here, you want to be in the semi-finals or the final. You don’t want to experience a loss in the first round. But this is part of tennis. I was not expecting much from this tournament because I was not ready when it comes to tennis, when it comes to my physical shape. I’m feeling better than a week and a half ago, but it takes some effort. I can’t do this just overnight.
“Mentally I’m experiencing a tough time, but this is part of the game. I don’t want to be part of these people who are more affected by the results than they should. I will just keep working even harder.”
