Is the French Open time for Novak Djokovic? ‘If the unthinkable happens to the world’s number 1 sinner’ | tennis news

French Open Is it time for Novak Djokovic to finally win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam? “It could happen, but only if the unthinkable happens to the world’s number one nick-sinner,” claimed Sky Sports chief commentator Jonathan Overend.

For all his experience, though – the 39-year-old has won 24 Grand Slam singles titles with Margaret Court – Djokovic barely prepared for a match at this year’s French Open.

But the Serb overcame a milestone and a critical hurdle to begin his latest bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title. Local hope Giovanni Mpetschi with a 5-7 7-5 6-1 6-4 first round win over Pericard..

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

But with Carlos Alcaraz, two-time reigning French Open champion, Out with an injured wrist, Djokovic saw an opportunity to go all the way in the bottom half of the draw.

“Alcaraz’s absence is a huge blow to the tournament and a huge blow to tennis because the narrative in the men’s game is Ciner and Alcaraz and it’s about the rivalry and who’s going to win more,” Overend said.

“They’re going to win big prizes at the expense of everyone else and now it’s created a situation where we have overwhelming favorites for a Grand Slam title, more than I can remember.

“I can’t remember when we’ve been favorites for a Grand Slam. When you consider that we’re talking about seven match wins and best of five sets, there’s a lot at stake. There’s a lot of good opponents, a lot can go wrong, over a long period of 14 days.

“It’s incredibly rare to get someone as beloved as a Cinner and is that good for the tournament as a whole? It’s not like you want to build a narrative across these two weeks leading up to a fantastic final and we’re not going to have a repeat of last year’s classic final.

“The matches between them haven’t been epic – certainly when you compare it to the Roland-Garros final, so you wonder when will be the next time we see a classic Ciner-Alcaraz match and it won’t be this summer which is a huge shame.”

What does this mean in terms of draw?

If Djokovic were to progress through the draw, he would meet the top-ranked Sinner, who is on a 29-match winning streak, only in the final.

Overend said: “I’m interested in Djokovic coming out in the other half of the draw with Ciner. It’s going to be an interesting draw for me.

“Being seeded No. 3 and coming into the bottom half of the draw means the top seeds in the Sinner half are Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is seeded No. 4, and Ben Shelton is No. 5, and those are two guys who have really struggled to win matches over the last few weeks on clay.

“Sure, Shelton won a clay title in Munich, but this group of players between five and 10 have really struggled this clay season – certainly at the Masters level. Not widely sure why!

“If you’re a sinner, you’re thinking, ‘OK’, it’s the way it’s drawn for me, but with Djokovic in the other half, it begs the question of what happens if Cena gets upset early or something happens to him, which could happen.”

He continued: “We’ve seen Rafael Nadal hit the ground running like Alexander Zverev when he’s leading. We’ve seen that people have to come through illness and it can happen and it can happen to Cinar and if that happens, Djokovic is going to say ‘OK, it’s my time’ because with only one between Ciner and Alcaraz in the draw, it gives Novak extra leverage.

“And if the unthinkable happens and Cena goes early, I would fully expect Djokovic to get past the bottom half of the draw.

“Could it be a record-breaking Grand Slam? I think it could be – if Ciner is anything to go by. If he plays Ciner in the final, the Italians will be favourites.

“It’s sad that we’re hanging around for storylines or potential upsets because that’s the beauty of Grand Slams. You get upset and I think it’s a sign of how clear Cinner and Alcaraz are that you can count on one hand the number of people who have little chance of beating Cinner at this year’s French Open or Wimble.”

Big upset at Wimbledon?

Ciner will also go into Wimbledon as the odds-on favorite to retain his title, but Overend has hinted at some shock defeats in the past, notably when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were stunned.

Can the unthinkable happen?

“With Wimbledon, I was on center court when Lucas Rosol beat Nadal and nobody came and actually when Nick Kyrgios beat Nadal. The Australian was still a teenager and few thought that an upset was about to happen,” he said.

“I remember giving a tip to Mark Chapman from the BBC that Kyrgios could beat Nadal, and Sergi Stakhovsky could beat Roger Federer. They are few and far between, but they take extraordinary things on the day.

“Stakhovsky was serving and volleying, while Rosol was hitting the cover with every shot he made. That’s what it took to beat Federer and Nadal in those days, and that’s what it took to beat Sinner at Wimbledon.

“You look around and you think, who can actually do it? Can someone like Aleksandar Bublik express himself and play the way he did against Halle Ciner last summer? Maybe, but over three sets? It’s only less likely when you get to the Grand Slam format.

“Papi is the overwhelming favorite for Wimbledon and every Grand Slam until we see Alcaraz again.”

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