Novak Djokovic confirmed he is still a live contender in Grand Slam tournaments at the age of 38 after a sensational performance saw him beat Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at Roland Garros.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has been written off by several high-profile names in tennis after failing to win a major title since the 2023 US Open.
Yet as he proved in his win against Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open in January, Djokovic can still find a way to produce magic at the back end of Grand Slams and he had way too much for Zverev after dropping the opening set.
The win against Zverev fired Djokovic back up to No 5 in the live ATP Rankings and he is now just one win away from returning to the top four.
However, he will need to halt the mighty Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals if he is to leap back into the top four ahead of Wimbledon, which gets underway on the final day of this month.
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Former world No 1 Jim Courier told TNT Sports that Djokovic served up the perfect game plan to dismantle Zverev, with his drop shot proving to be the decisive shot.
“It’s phenomenal to watch him be able to pick apart someone as consistent as Zverev is on the baseline, with the drop shot,” said Courier.
”It’s not like Zverev doesn’t know that it’s going to come at some point, but because Novak has such penetration with his backhand depth, it pins him back a little bit and makes him vulnerable to it, so Novak waits for the right time, the moment he gets the opportunity, there goes to drop shot.
“Zverev comes in, and it’s a passing shot. It’s a lob and it’s mostly successful for him. That was key, and then the wide serve in the deuce court was so, so devastating.
“And Sasha couldn’t quite figure out how to get the forehand short cross court when Novak would serve in volume in that last game, multiple times, Novak had the easy backhand volley of the open court, and he made it.
“Spare a thought for Zverev. He puts his heart and soul into matches like this but he hasn’t quite got it figured out. The search continues. Disappointment for the German but elation for Novak.
“What a semi-final this tournament has generated. Sinner and Alcaraz – the new two – into the semi Musetti a revelation as of light, and this guy going for number 25 in 2025. Thank you tennis gods.”
Djokovic gave an emotional speech to the Roland Garros crowd after a win that cemented his belief that he could win his 25th Grand Slam title and became the player who has the most majors on their record this Sunday.
Getting past Sinner will be an even bigger challenge, but Djokovic has silenced those who suggest his days of challenging at the back end of Grand Slams are coming to an end all over again.
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