Write Novak Djokovic Off At The French Open ‘At Your Own Peril,’ Jim Courier Says

Novak Djokovic is likely to face a tricky draw when Roland Garros begins May 25, but two-time French Open champion Jim Courier says you can never write off the 24-time major champion.

Djokovic is still seeking that record 25th major title to break a tie with Margaret Court atop the all-time list.

“Novak has been struggling,” Courier said Tuesday on a TNT Zoom call with reporters ahead of the network’s maiden broadcast of the year’s second Grand Slam. “He’s not winning the matches he’s used to winning, but he has shown some really high peaks this year – his gutsy win over [Carlos] Alcaraz in Australia while injured; his quarterfinal and semifinal wins in Miami, he looked like the guy we recognized. It’s just been sporadic for him. So it’s a good sign he’s he’s taken a wildcard into Geneva this week, and he’s looking to get some matches there to build a little momentum into RG.

“You write him off at your run of risk.”

After getting the No. 7 seed at the Australian Open, the 37-year-old Serb could again be seeded as low as No. 7 for Roland Garros. The Serb is currently No. 6 in the Live Rankings.

He’s currently the fourth betting favorite behind Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverv.

“You can’t write off someone who’s won so many Grand Slam who’s obviously a big champion,” Caroline Wozniacki said on the TNT call. “So I agree, he’s been a bit up and down. But last year he said, I want an Olympic gold medal. He got his gold medal. He has clear goals in his mind, and that’s where he wants to peak. And you know, there’s a reason why he’s playing this week in Geneva. It’s because he knows he hasn’t played his best tennis. He wants to find it before going into the next Grand Slam.”

Djokovic beat Alcaraz in the Australian Open quarterfinals, but tore a hamstring muscle and then had to retire in the semifinals against Zverev, who lost to Sinner in the final.

Djokovic now faces a potential similar path in Paris where he could have to beat three of the world’s best to win his record 25th major.

“It means that we’ll all be watching the draw with a lot of interest, doesn’t it?” Courier said. “It’s not going to be easy.

“He’s going to get placed somewhere in there. Maybe he’ll get placed with Taylor Fritz, when it would feel like he would be the favorite in that section. But it’s tough sledding, for sure, when you’re seeded in that second foursome. He could literally end up with Sinner. He could end up with Carlos, as we saw in Australia. So we will be watching with a lot of interest when the drop comes out this week.”

The draw comes out Thursday, but Wozniacki questions whether Djokovic can sustain for seven matches at his age.

“It’s just not always easy,” she said. “When you get older, too, your body is not the same as it used to be. You don’t recover as easily. So winning a Slam is never easy, but especially when you get to the age that he’s at. But if someone can do it, it’s Novak. I mean, we know he takes care of his body so well, and he will use anything nutritionally, physio, anything possible, to find his peak.”