After going titleless last year (excluding his Paris Olympics triumph), there was a lot of speculation about Novak Djokovic‘s probable retirement in the coming season. However, in December, he gave an interview to Gazzetta dello Sport, where he debunked all the rumors: “I feel I can still play at the highest level.” Although he couldn’t win the Australian Open this year, Djokovic stood firm with his ambitions, saying, “I still have it in my legs, in my hands, in my arms.“ But after seeing him falter multiple times over the last twelve months, even tennis experts started to raise some question marks about his humongous ambitions. However, the 24-time Grand Slam champion proved everyone wrong by clinching his 100th career title at the Geneva Open. Can he now bring home his 25th major title from Paris? Well, the former world number one, Mats Wilander, has shared his thoughts on this.

Seeing his constant struggles, tennis legend Chris Evert had previously said, “The way he’s playing right now, he’s not gonna win (French Open). So he would have to play spectacular tennis like every single match. And I mean, I could see him definitely getting to the second week. I could see getting to a semi, but I don’t know him.” Then, even, the former French player, Nicolas Escude, claimed that Novak Djokovic is on a “downward slope.” 

Escude said, “Given what he’s accomplished, he’ll no longer be able to achieve, not just feats, but win every tournament he entered, dropping only a few sets here and there. So, yes, he’s on a downward slope. At the beginning of the year, we already asked ourselves the question about Novak Djokovic and, in my opinion, I don’t see him winning a Grand Slam anymore; it’s far too complicated for him.” However, Mats Wilander thought differently. Previously, Wilander claimed that Djokovic could indeed become the “big, big favorite” to win the tournament if he managed to reach the second week of the 2025 French Open.

Now, after seeing his impressive, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1) win over the Frenchman, Corentin Moutet in the second round, Wilander made a bold prediction about the Serb’s Grand Slam ambitions. In a recent interview, he said, “I cannot understand why anyone would say Novak should stop and, in fact, I think he is adding to his legacy by going out and winning a title like he did in Geneva last weekend.” 

He highlighted Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam hunger amid the Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz era and went on to add, “Of course, he can win another Grand Slam. Anyone who writes off Novak Djokovic is making a mistake. I would say that Wimbledon may be his best chance and it will be hard for him to get past Alcaraz and Sinner, but this is Novak Djokovic. This is not a normal tennis player. I would not be surprised for one second if he wins another Grand Slam.“

So far, Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slam titles in his career, and out of those, seven have come at Wimbledon and three at the French Open. The rest are all on hard courts. Can he win at Roland Garros? Well, John McEnroe said that the Serb has got “the best draw of anyone” to make a deep run at the 2025 French Open. Who’s he going to face in the third round and what did he say after beating Corentin Moutet on Parisian clay, though?

Novak Djokovic shares his thoughts on his incredible win against Corentin Moutet

Before this match, Novak Djokovic spoke about the possible reception he would get from the French crowd when he’s going to take on the local lad. He said, “It is true that here in France and in Paris, compared to other slams, the people are louder and more passionate and just give more support, louder support, more energy to their player, which for some players can be annoying. It’s not the kind of ideal environment you want to be playing in, but you have to be ready for it.” He got what he expected, but despite all these, he managed to keep his straight-sets winning streak intact at the 2025 French Open.

He’s currently on a six-match winning streak after his title triumph in Geneva, and with this win, he now also holds a 12-0 record against the French players at the clay-court major. Other than the crowd, Djokovic also had to deal with a blister on his left foot, which had in fact required medical attention during the third set of this match. Overall, what are his assessments from this match?

There was already a lot of controversy surrounding his match getting shifted to Court Suzanne Lenglen instead of the Philippe-Chatrier. Now, after this match, he shared his experience playing in this other court. “I ended out the match well, moving well, playing a great tiebreak. Obviously, atmosphere was electric, especially in that third set. He was close to win it, so the crowd got involved. And it was, yeah, not much fun for me. Of course, it’s never easy, but I try to stay calm and do what I need to do, and I think I have done that in a really good way. I always felt like in the past that Suzanne Lenglen get very loud. I think also because the fact that you’re experiencing the match from up close gets you involved even more.”

Talking about his own performance and his opponent, Djokovic mentioned, “Mentally I had to stay concentrated and prepared for a match like that. Corentin is a player who has great speed, it was a great battle, especially the third set. I saved a set point… At that moment, anything is possible. I found a shot to stay in the set, a good service. I think in general I played well, I managed to stay calm on court, which wasn’t easy at times.” 

With two more wins, Novak Djokovic will now get into the QF of this tournament for the 16th consecutive year. Next up for him is Austria’s Filip Misolic. This will be their first meeting. Do you think the ‘Serbinator‘ can yet again showcase a dominating performance in this match?