ATP Tour

Djokovic the birthday boy ready at Roland Garros: ‘My preparation has been positive’

Novak Djokovic’s leadup to the 2026 edition of Roland Garros may not have been ideal, but that is not stopping the record 24-time major titlist from thinking big as he prepares to compete on the Paris clay.

Speaking to media on Friday in the French capital, where he was also celebrating his 39th birthday, Djokovic was full of positivity as he prepared for his fourth event of the year. The 101-time tour-level champion, who is 7-3 in 2026 according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, will take on home favourite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round.

“Not kind of how I imagined my birthday to go, but nice to see you guys,” three-time Roland Garros titlist Djokovic began. “It's been a lot of hours spent on the court and trying to perfect the game and the body and enable myself physically and game-wise to be ready for best of five. Let's see. I don't know whether that's going to be the case for the entire tournament, however long that tournament will be for me.

“But Grand Slams have been, and I have said this many times, always [on] the priority list, particularly in the last couple of years. I always try to aim to be at the peak of my own abilities to perform well in Grand Slams, so I can't wait to get on a court and start competing.”

After missing more than six weeks following March’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells due to injury, Djokovic returned to action in earlier this month in Rome, where he fell to Dino Prizmic in three sets in his opening match. The Serbian confirmed he would ideally have played more matches ahead of Roland Garros but was nonetheless happy to take the time he spent on court in the Italian capital.

“To be honest, it was a higher force. I wanted to play more, but my body was not allowing me,” Djokovic said. “I was going through rehabilitation process for my injury. So after Indian Wells, it was just not possible for me to compete for several months. That's the reason why. I really wanted to go to Rome to give it a shot and try and see how I feel.

“I was far from being ready to compete, but still, I needed at least that one match just to have the score called by the chair umpire and have experience of the nerves before I eventually come to Roland Garros. At that point I didn't know if I was going to be able to play or not. Thankfully, the response of the body and the preparation has been positive in the last 10 days, so here I am, and we'll see what happens.”

After Djokovic exited Rome, the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Jannik Sinner went on to lift the trophy and in doing so join Djokovic as the only men to complete the Career Golden Masters (by winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 events). Djokovic, who has won each Masters 1000 event at least twice, was full of his praise for the Italian’s achievement.

“I want to congratulate him again. I have done that on social media, but again, it's an incredible feat for him and his team,” Djokovic said. “We have talked a lot about how impressive he is on all surfaces, and people are maybe questioning because of his game style whether the clay would be as dominant as hard court, for example, but he has proven that that's also the case, which is really amazing.

“Being one of the two guys that have managed in history to win the Golden Masters, I know how challenging that is and how difficult it is, so I really congratulate him for that, because it's quite an achievement, and he's really young. He has a lot of time ahead of him. I think he's going for his Golden Slam as well here, if I'm not mistaken as well. He's maybe in the form of his life, and without Carlos [Alcaraz] being here, it also increases his chances even more of claiming more Grand Slam titles.”

Djokovic has only lost to either Sinner or World No. 2 Alcaraz across the past four Grand Slam events. With 2025 champion Alcaraz unable to defend his Roland Garros crown due to a wrist injury, Djokovic was asked if the absence of one of his great Lexus ATP Head2Head rivals made him feel differently heading into the clay major.

“Whether that changes my approach to this tournament, I don't think it does significantly change, to be honest, because I have been through challenging times with my body in the last six to eight months," said Djokovic, who fell to Alcaraz in January’s Australian Open final. “So that was my primary focus or concern, if I may say, not much really thinking about would I have better chances or not with Carlos being here or not being here.

"I feel like if I'm healthy and I'm able to maintain that level of freshness throughout the tournament… If I'm able to somehow maintain that level of freshness and progress, and then I feel like I have always a very good chance. I have proven that in Australia this year where I was close to [winning] another Slam. So I always have that belief in me when I'm on the court.”