Roland Garros: Novak Djokovic turns 35 - The birthday present should follow in 14 days
Novak Djokovic turns 35 today. The world number one in Roland Garros is spared public celebrations.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: May 22, 2022, 09:56 am
If Novak Djokovic celebrates his 35th birthday today in a reasonably big way, you will at best find out about it from social media. Because the classic handover of a congratulatory cake by the tournament director in front of an ecstatically singing crowd will be canceled: Djokovic still has no play and will only start the competitions in Roland Garros on the second day. One can only speculate whether this was a special birthday wish from the Serbian industry leader. In any case, Novak Djokovic will only train today, the first match against Yoshihito Nishioka is on Monday.
But maybe the grandmaster has a moment to reflect on his brilliant career. And to remember that the last cake was handed over not so long ago: last week in Rome Djokovic celebrated his 1000th match win on the tour, was presented with a calorie bomb in the Foro Italico, which it can be assumed that the ascetic made it out Belgrade divided among its staff, the ball children or other interested parties.
In any case, the record so far looks like this: Novak Djokovic has won 87 tournaments on the ATP tour so far, which includes the 20 majors, which, strictly speaking, cook their own soup. It is very easy to imagine that Djokovic will be in three figures when it comes to championships.
Djokovic on course for 100 titles
So far, only Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) have done this. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted: Djokovic has also struck in doubles before: in 2010 alongside Jonathan Erlich in London's Queen's Club.
At the French Open, Djokovic is the favorite after his performance in Rome, the tableau is known to be very densely populated with top players in the upper half. Djokovic didn't want to go into that on Media Day, he just said that he knew it was his turn against a left-hander. But probably meant jokingly Nishioka in round one.
Novak Djokovic probably doesn't want to give himself a gift for exactly two weeks - when he defends his title at the Bois de Boulogne and draws level with Rafael Nadal with his 21st triumph in a Grand Slam tournament. By the way, he could get a cake on the Philippe-Chatrier court. But only if he beats Djokovic in the quarter-finals: Nadal's 36th birthday falls on June 3, 2022. The semi-finals will be played in Roland Garros.
Here the individual tableau in Roland Garros
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