Is Roland Garros Djokovic's best chance for additional slams?

[geromino]

Djokovic is undefeated at Roland Garros since 2019 to players not named Nadal. Sinner seems to have hard courts locked up and Alcaraz similarly grass. Clay might be Djokovic's best remaining surface as it gives him the extra time he needs to compensate for his slight decline in movement.

 

[Cortana]

Strangely it seems that way. I think he'll get his 25th slam at RG 2025.

 

[Djumhur]

Next USO is his best chance. Alc might not recover mentally from this plus he is still error machine with this return. Sinner while better than Alc at hardcourts still having problem with bo5. Med and Zverev are not good enough

 

[143 Entirely]

Despite few epic defeats, I have always considered clay to be one of Novak's more favorable surfaces.

 

[tudwell]

I don’t think so. He was great in 2023 but struggled mightily in 21, 22, and this year. He can coast by more efficiently on hard court and grass. He’s still one of the best on clay, of course, but it diminishes the effectiveness of some of his greatest strengths these days (the serve and generally aggressive tactics, from the baseline and at net).

Edit: Not to say his level was poor in those editions. I suppose another way to put it is: The margin between Djokovic and the average player is lower on clay than it is on hard or grass. The one big confounding factor is that the hard court field is a bit more top-heavy than the clay field.

 

[TheGoldenEra1990’s]

I think so because he doesn’t have the speed and reflexes to fend big hitters off on grass anymore. On clay his defense helps him more. Hards is gonna be too tough in his body.

 

[InsuranceMan]

AO ‘25 revenge and that’s it

Let’s not forget stuff like Nardi please. I think Djoker put it all on the line in this two set match tbh

 

[TripleATeam]

Out of the 4 slams, clay will be his best friend if he can keep up his stamina.

At the moment, grass favors his opponents who can crush the ball harder than he can. His sprinting speed, recovery, and stamina have reduced in his old age so they can exploit that for pace on grass or faster courts. However, his younger rivals will also presumably have better stamina as well.

Really, it's a balance. If Djokovic's shotmaking and stamina are better than his main rivals, he'll have his best chance at RG. If Djokovic's stamina is worse, then he needs to shorten points and play lower percentage tennis on grass - where Wimbledon will be his best friend. If he can rely on both to some degree but needs to use his tennis IQ to know when and where (plus he's dictating the rallies) then hardcourt.

I think this will be a play by ear sort of thing.

 

[junior74]

Yesterday I thought Alcaraz would take over and dominate.

Now I think Djokovic will dominate until Leo Federer comes of age.

 

[murphywmm]

No. He's fortunate that the Olympics is now all BO3.

 

[InsideOut900]

It's probably bad to evaluate Novak on grass based on his performance on a bum knee, but it does seem like RG is the least competitive.

Wimbledon has Raz and potentially Sinner when fit

USO is out of the question unless he gets a draw like 2023 where all threats are in the same half

AO is his best Slam, but all the other 4, Raz, Med, Sinner and Zed can be very tough there

RG only has Sinner, Zed, which Novak can outplay and Raz, which he might beat on a day similar to today.

But at any rate, his best chance will be when he is fully fit, prepared and has an easy draw, not at a respective Slam.

 

[Matrix968]

I wouldn't count him out of any slam, for now... However, considering the level of play of the field on the hard courts compared to the natural surfaces, I may give him slightly higher chance at RG and WB, imo...