Novak Djokovic‘s title defence begins on Tuesday with the No.1 facing off against Pierre Hugues Herbert in the night session on Philipp Chatrier. They have actually met before, with Djokovic winning in straight sets at the Paris Masters back in 2013.
Herbert is a career grand slam winner in doubles but has never got close to troubling even the top 20 at singles. The big serving Frenchman is back in the Top 150 and was rewarded with a wildcard after some decent performances at Challenger level earlier in the year. He comes into event with a record of six losses in the last seven though, coming in a mix of Challenger and ATP qualifiers.
Djokovic is still somehow titleless in 2024 after failing to win the tournament in Geneva, where he took a late wildcard. Losses to Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud are one thing but it has to be concerning that he is now suffering losses to the likes of Tomas Machac, who ran away with it in the third set of their semi final in Switzerland. “I have to lower the expectations. When I say that I mean, maybe not thinking too much ahead in advance in terms of the tournament and who I might face in the later rounds, but really taking it day by day, step by step, and really building my game. Because that’s what I have really been struggling with, not really playing in a consistently good level.” he said in regards to his feelings ahead of the tournament.
There will be a lot of questions over Djokovic’s level and his ability to defend his title here. It’s unlikely any of them will be answered against an opponent who is poor on clay and will play right into Djokovic’s hands style wise. A dropped set would likely raise concern but beyond that, it will be hard to read much into the straight forward win this should be.
Prediction – Novak Djokovic in straight sets
