Djokovic will enter the final year of his 30s as a record-equalling 24-time Grand Slam winner, but will have the chance to move out on his own with a 25th should he reign supreme in France.<\/p>\n
The veteran has not failed to reach at least the quarter-finals since 2010 and in that time – during a period dominated by Rafael Nadal on clay – managed to scoop three titles.<\/p>\n
As part of getting older, injuries have continued to creep into Djokovic’s life, which has made it difficult for him to get fully prepared for the French Open.<\/p>\n
![\"picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-e865d7fd-2c46-498e-a1fb-702b72229dbd-85-2560-1440.jpeg\")
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Djokovic ‘didn’t know’ if he’d be fit for French Open, Alcaraz absence a ‘big blow’<\/p>\n
Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n
Prior to his opener against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Sunday, he even said that his involvement was up in the air at one stage.<\/p>\n
“I wanted to play more but my body was not allowing me,” he explained. “I was going through a rehabilitation process for my injuries, so after Indian Wells, it was just not possible for me to compete for several months. <\/p>\n
“I really wanted to go to Rome [Italian Open] to give it a shot and try and see how I felt. I was far from being ready to compete. At that point, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play [in the French Open or not.<\/p>\n
“Thankfully, the response of the body and the preparation has been positive in the last 10 days, so here I am and let’s see what happens.”<\/p>\n
One player who will not be present in Paris is the reigning holder Carlos Alcaraz, who has withdrawn from both the French Open and Wimbledon<\/a> because of a wrist injury.<\/p>\n But will that boost Djokovic’s chances?<\/p>\n “He’s a two-time defending champion of Roland-Garros; of course, it’s a big blow for the tournament not to have him,” he said.<\/p>\n “Whether that changes my approach? I don’t think it does, significantly. I’ve been through challenging times with my body in the past six to eight months, so that was my primary focus, not really thinking about whether or not I have a better chance with Carlos [playing]. <\/p>\n “If I’m healthy and able to maintain that level of freshness throughout the tournament, then I feel like I always have a very good chance. I’ve proven that.”<\/p>\n Alcaraz and Sinner ‘have taken tennis to another level’ with French Open classic<\/p>\n Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n Djokovic’s record as the only player to win a career Golden Masters was snatched away from him last week as world No. 1 Jannik Sinner made history in Rome<\/a>.<\/p>\n Djokovic believes that the Italian is in “the form of his life”. Although he conceded that his own chances may not have differed in the absence of Alcaraz, Sinner’s may have been doubled.<\/p>\n “I want to congratulate him again. I’ve done it on social media but, again, it’s an incredible feat for him,” Djokovic said. “We’ve talked a lot about how impressive he is on all surfaces. <\/p>\n “Being one of the two guys in history who have managed to win the Golden Masters, I know how challenging that is and how difficult it is. It’s quite an achievement. <\/p>\n “He’s really young, he still has a lot of time ahead of him. I think he’s going for his Golden Slam here if I’m not mistaken. He’s in the form of his life. Without Carlos being here increases his chances even more. <\/p>\n “We’re all here to try and win against him and prevent him from taking more titles.”<\/p>\n Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here<\/a> to enjoy more content like this.Stream every court from the 2026 French Open exclusively live on TNT Sports and HBO Max<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watch amusing moment Djokovic is interrupted by mobile phone – ‘It’s probably for my birthday’ Video credit: TNT…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[183549,101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-599760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-roland-garros-mens-singles-2026","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-c64e859a-4713-4770-adad-08aa02342b08-85-2560-1440.jpeg\")
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