Novak Djokovic will head into the 2025 French Open on the back of a topsy-turvy season, but that is no reason to write off the 24-time Grand Slam champion, says former world number one Jim Courier. The World No. 6 is now playing at the Geneva Open, which will be his final tournament before Roland Garros.
Djokovic, 37, has only played in six tournaments so far this year, which is far lower than he would have liked. The Serbian has been struggling with a hamstring injury, which forced him to withdraw from the Australian Open semifinal before subsequently being sidelined. He made a good comeback at the Miami Open to reach the final, but his wait for his 100th title continues.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has only played two matches on clay so far this season and has lost both, so there are genuine concerns surrounding whether he can win that record-breaking 25th Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
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Courier, a four-time Grand Slam champion, feels Djokovic will be eager to bounce back, and the fact that he is playing the Geneva Open is a good sign.
“Novak has been struggling. 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 taken a wildcard into Geneva this week, and he's looking to get some matches there to build a little momentum into RG,” Courier was quoted as saying by Forbes.
Courier added that when it came to the Serb, it is risky to write him off.
“You write him off at your run of risk,” he said.
Djokovic is seeded second at the Geneva Open and will begin his campaign against Marton Fucsovics in the round of 16 on Wednesday, May 21.
Novak Djokovic reveals a key addition to his coaching unit for the 2025 French Open
Novak Djokovic had recently ended his association with his rival-turned-coach, Andy Murray. The duo had a good run since November last year as Murray guided the Serbian to the Australian Open semifinals and the Miami Open final.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion announced earlier this month that their association had ended and revealed the name of a key member who will join his coaching staff for the 2025 French Open.
"I'm not currently looking for a coach, Dušan Vemic will be in Geneva and at Roland Garros as part of my team!” he said during his press conference at the Geneva Open.
The Serb, who is in search of his 25th Grand Slam and 100th career title, added that he was in no rush to appoint a new coach.
"Dusan Vemic and Boris Bosnjakovic will share that role for the next couple of tournaments, and then we'll see... I'm not in any rush to choose; I'm happy with these guys," he added.
Novak Djokovic and Vemic have known each other for a long time and the latter has been his assistant coach and hitting partner in the past. In fact, they also played doubles together at the 2009 Madrid Open and 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships.
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