Djokovic Remains Undefeated In Roland-Garros Openers

Novak Djokovic, Roland-Garros
Novak Djokovic

PARIS/WASHINGTON, May 27, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

During Novak Djokovic‘s most recent visit to Roland-Garros – Sunday’s Rafael Nadal tribute notwithstanding – he completed his career Golden Slam by winning his first Olympic gold medal last July. It was a long-stated goal for him. Now that he’s won his 100th career tour-level title, which he achieved last Saturday in Geneva, Switzerland, what’s next for the Serbian icon?

It would appear that the World No. 6 Djokovic’s next goal would be to finally win his 25th Grand Slam title. His 24th came at the US Open in 2023. So, it’s been quite a while that the former World No. 1 has been stuck on 24.

“I actually was considering winning a 25th Grand Slam before, so it hasn’t changed much,” the 38-year-old Djokovic Monday during his pre-tournament news conference. “But it’s true that after the Geneva title, I feel more confident. I feel more positive about my level of play because I had a lot of concerns regarding my game play, and I needed to reach a level that would be the one that I wanted as I was about to start the biggest tournament here.

“But now, after Geneva, I feel better, I still have a lot of ambitions, I still have high objectives. I will focus on the first round, and I would like to maintain this high level, this dedication hopefully to reach the best possible result.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Djokovic was near-perfect as he began his journey for major title No. 25. He eased past 98th-ranked Mackenzie McDonald of the United States, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, in one hour and 58 minutes with the roof closed on Court Philippe-Chatrier to conclude the day session.

With his victory against McDonald in their first meeting, Djokovic remained undefeated (21-0) in first-round matches at Roland Garros. He has not lost a set in a Paris opener since 2010 – and he’s won the French Open three times, in 2016, 2021 and 2023.

“I try to enjoy every moment on this very special and beautiful court,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview, translated from French. “I feel good, clearly, even more here because I’m reliving the memories of last year’s Olympics, the last time I played on this court. [They are] beautiful emotions.

“It was a solid match. I know that he can play to a better standard than today, but I am very happy with what I produced.”

Against McDonald, Djokovic won 81 percent (38 of 47) of his first-serve points, hit 32 winners – 18 more than McDonald – to 20 unforced errors, converted five of nine break points, and outpointed his opponent 90-60.

“I’m a competitor, and losing stings,” McDonald said in post-match press, “but playing Novak on that court is something I’ll remember.”

In the second round, Djokovic, a quarterfinalist last year before withdrawing with a knee injury, will face No. 73 Corentin Moutet of France, who defeated 280th-ranked French qualifier Clement Tabur, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-3, in two hours and 53 minutes on Court Simone-Mathieu.

On the occasion of winning his 100th ATP Tour title, Djokovic made this surprising admission: “I needed to win matches, and particularly on this surface,” he said. “For me at least, it doesn’t maybe come as natural to play well from the blocks, so to say, from the very first tournaments of the season on clay.

“So I’m the type of player that needs to get some matches under his belt before the big tournaments … of course, the biggest one being Roland-Garros and being the biggest priority on this surface.”

Zverev teaches Learner a lesson

No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, who could be a quarterfinal opponent for Djokovic, defeated No. 67 Learner Tien of the United States, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 53 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen for his 35th career win at Roland-Garros, most of any player born in the 1990s.

Zverev, a Roland-Garros finalist a year ago who is making his 10th appearance at the clay-court major, won 90 percent (46 of 51) of his first-serve points, hit 28 winners – including 12 from his forehand side – and converted four of 12 break points. He saved all four break points he faced. Zverev outpointed the 19-year-old Tien 98-66.

“I’m very happy to be back in Paris. Roland-Garros is a very special place to me,” Zverev said during his on-court interview. “It was a good start to the tournament. I’m very happy with the three-set win.

“Usually, I always play four or five sets, very, very long in the first matches, but I’m happy with this win and hopefully it will continue like this. Hopefully it’s going to continue like this, and hopefully it’s going to be a fun two weeks here.”

After losing to Tien in three sets in Acapulco earlier this season, Zverev showed he had learned from his earlier meeting with the up-and-coming American.

“He’s very young, he’s very talented and obviously he’s going to climb up the rankings, and he’s still going to improve,” Zverev said.

“It helped that I played him once before, and maybe it helped that I lost to him also. I kind of knew what to expect. I’m happy with today’s performance all around.”

Next for Zverev is No. 88 Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands, who needed three hours and 49 minutes to defeat No. 139 Francesco Passaro of Italy, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-1, on Court 8.

Gauff laughs about forgotten racquets after winning opener

World No. 2 Coco Gauff of the United States eased to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 91 Olivia Gadecki of Australia in 71 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier for her 21st career win at Roland-Garros. The American No. 1 hit 15 winners, converted six of eight break points, and outpointed Gadecki 62-40. She jumped out to a 3-0 lead in each set and coasted to her sixth straight opening-round win in Paris.

The biggest news from this first-round match was Gauff inadvertently walked out on court without her racquets. A ball kid retrieved them and minutes later brought them out on court. Despite the mix-up, it didn’t matter for Gauff and she’s through to the second round.

“Honestly, as long as I’ve been on tour, my coach has always put the rackets in the bag before the match because he’s very superstitious,” Gauff said in her post-match interview. “I’m blaming it on my coach. It’s OK.”

Next, Gauff will play 172nd-ranked Czech qualifier Teresa Valentova, who defeated N0. 119 Chloe Paquet of France, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in two hours and 35 minutes on Court 7.

Around Stade Roland-Garros

In the biggest upset of the men’s draw, No. 81 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain eliminated No. 11 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5, in three hours and 53 minutes on Court Simone-Mathieu. At 2-sets-all, Medvedev failed to serve out the match at 5-4 and Norrie seized the opportunity, winning the final four games of the first-round match. He withstood 16 aces and 67 winners from the World No. 11 from Russia but also took advantage of 69 unforced errors by Medvedev. Norrie hit 42 winners.

“It was an incredible atmosphere, I really felt like I had the momentum there,” Norrie said afterward. “I felt a lot of energy, and I managed to get over the line. He was a little bit tentative, it was honestly a crazy match.

“He’s so tough to beat, I think I deserve a diploma for beating Medvedev. … He’s got me the last four times.”

Next for Norrie, a former World No. 8, is 144th-ranked Argentine lucky loser Federico Agustin Gomez, who eliminated No. 76 Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1, in two hours and 47 minutes on Court 9.

• No. 5 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain reset after dropping the first set to No. 68 Mattia Bellucci of Italy, then took charge and won 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 35 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Draper fired 11 aces, hit 43 winners overall, converted six of 18 break points and outpointed Bellucci 118-94. Next, he will face sentimental French favorite Gaël Monfils, ranked 42nd, who won his  40th career match at Roland-Garros – and 12th five-setter – with a 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over No. 90 Hugo Dellien of Bolivia in three-hours, 36-minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Monfils fired 21 aces and hit 57 winners overall.

• No. 9 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over No. 59 Laslo Djere of Serbia in two hours and 35 minutes on Court 14. De Minaur converted four of five break points and outpointed Djere 111-96.

• No. 17 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia advanced with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 227th-ranked South African qualifier Lloyd Harris in two hours and 22 minutes on Court 7 in back of 43 winners – including 13 aces.

• No. 19 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia withstood No. 39 Alexandre Muller of France for three hours and 20 minutes on Court 14 and advanced with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 victory in his Roland-Garros debut.

• No. 36 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy went the distance and pulled off a four-hour, 21-minute upset of No. 29 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, despite being outpointed 156-153. Arnaldi overcame 52 unforced errors to hit 46 winners.

• In his Roland-Garros debut, No. 65 Joao Fonseca of Brazil advanced with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 30 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in an hour and 40 minutes on Court 7. The #NextGenATP star finished with 36 winners – including nine aces – and outpointed Hurkacz 90-60.

• American qualifier Ethan Quinn, ranked 106th, advanced over No. 16 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria by retirement, despite trailing two sets-to-one after an hour and 54 minutes on Court 6. It was the fourth straight major that Dimitrov has been stopped by physical issues.

• No. 13 seed Ben Shelton of the United States is through to the third round without having to pick up a racquet in the second round. That’s because his opponent, Frenchman Hugo Gaston, withdrew from the tournament Tuesday with an abdominal injury.

Shelton, who will have had four days without competition after defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in five sets Sunday night, advances to play either two-time major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, seeded 20th, or 167th-ranked qualifier Matteo Gigante of Italy on Friday.

• On the women’s side, No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula of the United States advanced over No. 88 Anca Todoni of Romania, 6-2, 6-4, in 72 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen; No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia needed just an hour and 22 minutes to defeat No. 98 Cristina Bucsa of Spain, 6-4, 6-3, on Court Suzanne-Lenglen; No. 25 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland defeated No. 36 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, 7-6 (4), 6-0, in one hour and 46 minutes on Court Simone-Mathieu; No. 31 Sofia Kenia of the United States beat No. 72 Varvara Gracheva of France, 6-3, 6-1, in 66 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier; and No. 32 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan defeated 110th-ranked Argentine qualifier Solana Sierra, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in one hour and 38 minutes on Court 13.

Among the upsets, No. 70 Hailey Baptiste of the United States upset No. 23 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in two hours and 17 minutes on Court 7, behind 48 winners; No. 24 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium lost to 361st-ranked French wild card Lois Boisson, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, in two hours and nine minutes on Court 14; and No. 30 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia was eliminated by No. 47 Marie Bouzkova of Czechia, 6-4, 7-5, in an hour and 40 minutes on Court 14.

Also, playing in her 18th Roland-Garros tournament, No. 75 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced to the second round with an easy 48-minute 6-0, 6-0 victory over Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium on court 6. It’s the second career double-bagel victory for Azarenka, the first coming 16 years and 363 days after her first one (in 2008 against Sorona Cirstea of Romania).

Tuesday’s Roland-Garros results

Wednesday’s Roland-Garros order of play

By the numbers

Jannik Sinner‘s 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Arthur Rinderknech Monday night on Court Philippe-Chatrier was the Italian World No. 1’s 15th straight major win. The result against the 75th-ranked Frenchman was Sinner’s 62nd win in a row against opponents ranked outside the Top 20.

“Quotable …”

“I tried to fight until the end. Since the start of the season, I knew this would be my last Roland-Garros. I hesitated to say it out loud because I didn’t know how I’d handle the emotions — and this week, the tears have come every single day.”

– Caroline Garcia of France, following her 6-4, 6-4 defeat to 83rd-ranked American Bernarda Pera Monday on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. The 144th-ranked Garcia announced this would be her 14th and final Roland-Garros tournament and she would retire later this season.

 

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