For all of Novak Djokovic’s accolades – 100 career titles, 24 Grand Slam trophies, a record 428 weeks at No. 1 – the man still sometimes questions his game.
Just over a month ago, he was reeling from three straight losses – his second such skid of 2025 – and was winless on red clay, entering the French Open 0-2 on the surface.
So he entered the Geneva Open. And since then? He hasn’t looked back.
Djokovic is riding an 8-0 streak heading into Wednesday’s Roland Garros quarterfinal against No. 3 Alexander Zverev. After claiming the title in Geneva, he’s stormed through his first four matches in Paris without dropping a set.
“It happens if you lose a match or two consecutively, and then you don’t feel you have enough match play, you start to maybe doubt your game. You don’t want to be in that state of mind coming into Grand Slams,” the 38-year-old Serb said. “So I’m just glad it all turned out to be perfect for me, in that sense.”
He and Zverev, a 28-year-old German, know each other quite well – on the court and off.
This will be their 14th head-to-head contest on tour dating to 2017 – Djokovic holds an 8-5 advantage – and their first since meeting in the semifinals at the Australian Open in January. That one ended after just one set: Djokovic stopped playing because of an injured hamstring, drawing boos from ticket-buyers, and Zverev defended him.
Their only previous encounter in Paris came back in 2019, when Djokovic won their quarterfinal in three sets.
Zverev, who credits Djokovic with serving as something of a mentor, looked ahead to Wednesday and said: “It’s always a privilege to be on court with him.”
The other quarterfinal on Wednesday will feature No. 1 Jannik Sinner against unseeded Alexander Bublik, the first man from Kazakhstan to reach this stage at any Grand Slam tournament. The first two men’s quarterfinals were scheduled for Tuesday and, surprisingly, each one involved an American: defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain vs. No. 12 Tommy Paul, and No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy vs. No. 15 Frances Tiafoe.
There was some buzz after first-match losses in Monte Carlo and Madrid about whether Djokovic should even be considered a contender this time around at Roland Garros, even though he has claimed the trophy there three times. He also is the only player to beat 14-time champion Rafael Nadal more than once at the French Open.
Both of those April setbacks came against unseeded opponents – Alejandro Tabilo and Matteo Arnaldi – and both were over in straight sets.
So Zverev was asked Tuesday whether Djokovic, whose recent slump dropped him to No. 6 in the seedings, might now be viewed as a dark horse in Paris.
The premise seemed misguided to Zverev, a three-time runner-up at major tournaments – including to Alcaraz at Roland Garros a year ago and to Sinner at Melbourne Park this year.
“I mean, the guy won 24 Grand Slams. He’s never going to be a dark horse. He definitely knows how to play tennis,” Zverev said. “He definitely knows what it means to be on the big stage and to play big matches. There is no doubt about that.”
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