PARIS/WASHINGTON, May 23, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
On the day that Novak Djokovic celebrated his 39th birthday, his gift from French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo was a starring role in the first Roland-Garros night session of the tournament on Court Philippe Chatrier Sunday evening.
The World No. 4 Djokovic, who will be making his 22nd career appearance at the red clay major in Paris, has won three Roland-Garros titles – 2016, 2021 and 2023. He brings a 101-17 lifetime win-loss record into this year’s tournament.
As he readies for the year’s second major, the Serbian superstar would love nothing more than to finally garner his 25th major crown, which would distance himself from Margaret Court of Australia, who won 24 during her career. Djokovic has already distanced himself from Rafael Nadal (22) and Roger Federer (20), which leaves just Court (24) to chase after, with whom he’s been tied with since winning the 2023 US Open – his most-recent Grand Slam success.
Happy Birthday Novak 🧡🫶#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/LHRYJcNpd8
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 22, 2026
The 6-foot-2-inch, 181-pound Djokovic came to his Media Day news conference on Friday full of positivity, which is a good thing considering that his 2026 season has been limited to just three tournaments before the French Open. Djokovic has compiled a 7-3 win-loss record. He was a finalist at the Australian Open, losing a tough four-setter to Carlos Alcaraz in the title match. Then, he reached the round of 16 at Indian Wells before losing in three sets to Jack Draper. Most recently, at Rome, Djokovic went out in his opening-round match to Dino Prizmic.
“Not kind of how I imagined my birthday to go, but nice to see you guys,” Djokovic said to begin his news conference. “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.”
While Djokovic admits he would have liked to have played more matches before arriving at the year’s second major, he’s happy he did go to Rome – even if it turned out to be an early exit.
“To be honest, it was a higher force. I wanted to play more, but my body was not allowing me,” Djokovic explained. “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 have been positive in the last 10 days. So, here I am, and we’ll see what happens.”
View this post on Instagram
On Sunday evening, the No. 3 seed Djokovic will headline the first night session match of this year’s Roland-Garros when he faces Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, ranked 80th. Should he prevail, his likely second-round opponent would be No. 73 Valentin Royer of France. Looking ahead, Djokovic could face No. 28 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil in the third round, No. 15 seed Casper Ruud in the fourth round, No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev in the semifinals.
Looming at the end of the Parisian fortnight for Djokovic, if all goes swimmingly well, would be a title match against No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner, who enters as the favorite to win his first Roland-Garros title and complete a career Grand Slam. The 24-year-old Italian has won five-straight ATP Masters 1000 titles this season and will bring a 29-match winning streak into his opening match on Tuesday against 165th-ranked French wild card Clement Tabur.
“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 of the World No. 1 Sinner. “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.”
View this post on Instagram
Other Djokovic Media Day highlights
• On the absence of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic said: “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,” Djokovic said. “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.”
• On his physicality and preparation for Roland-Garros, Djokovic said: “Grand Slams are always my priority. I’m doing my best to be in good shape enough to play best of five sets for two weeks. Let’s see if that’s possible but I can’t wait to be out on court.”
• On why he was not a part of the Media protest organized by other players: “I was not part of the process, plan or decision making. So, I’m not part of that at all and I can’t comment on that. What I can keep doing is advocating for players, like I always did. Not only the top players. The lower ranked as well.”
Around the French Open
Among the highlights of Friday’s Media Day on the grounds of Roland-Garros:
• World No. 1 and top women’s seed Aryna Sabalenka: “I struggled at the beginning of the clay-court [season] physically, to be honest, but right now I feel 100 percent. We did a great recovery. We focused on recovery and made sure that I’m healed everywhere and I’m ready to go. Right now, as I said, physically I’m ready to go.”
• World No. 1 and top men’s seed Jannik Sinner: “It has been a very long but very positive period. I’m lucky to be in this position. Think it’s always better to be in a position where you win and you start to feel tired than you feel very good but you lose a couple of rounds.
“I try to have a good balance now at the practice court, understanding when to push, and then hopefully be ready for the first-round match. Very happy to be back here. It’s a very special tournament since first time I have played here.
“I think also the excitement helps you find a bit more energy during the tournament.”
• American No. 2 Jessica Pegula on four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek: “I think those few years with Iga on clay were definitely tough, because she was the best clay court player that we had had, and she was so dominant on it. I don’t know if she’s lost any aura. She’s still an amazing Grand Slam champion, multiple Grand Slam champion and has won on all the surfaces, so that’s always going to be there.”
Sunday’s Roland-Garros order of play
View this post on Instagram
By the numbers
There are 40 men’s and women’s first-round matches scheduled for Opening Day of the 2026 French Open on Sunday, spread across 10 courts. Play across courts, except Court Philippe Chatrier, begins at 11 a.m. Paris time (GMT +2). Play on Court Philippe Chatrier begins at 12 noon Paris time.
Among the players featured on Chatrier during the day include: Belinda Bencic, Alexander Zverev and Mirra Andreeva. Novak Djokovic will headline the night session on Chatrier beginning at 8:15 p.m. Paris time.
Among those featured on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, the second-largest show court, include: Karen Khachanov, Hailey Baptiste, Taylor Fritz and Sorana Cirstea.
Among the seeded players on Court Simonne-Mathieu include: Marta Kostyuk, Jakub Mensik and Joao Fonseca.
“Quotable …”
“It’s obviously different thinking about last year, but last year feels like ten years ago.”
– Defending women’s champion Coco Gauff of the United States, speaking during her Media Day news conference.
