The question has been tormenting the world of tennis for several months now: what makes Novak Djokovic still race at his age, when he finished the game a long time ago and no one will ever seek his record of 24 Grands Slams? And then we see him strip down like never before to return a legendary match on Chatrier at 3 a.m., and we have our answer. Show that he is the best, still, at 37 years old.
Trailing two sets to one, Novak Djokovic, world number one and holder of the trophy, escaped from the night trap set by the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (30th)… at the end of the night and the effort in the third round of Roland -Garros, at past three in the morning on Sunday.
“If you have a party, I’ll come”
Djokovic even emerged victorious 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 from a historic match, since at 3:06 a.m., after 4h29 min of play, this meeting was becoming the latest in the history of the Parisian Grand Slam tournament. It easily surpasses the 2020 quarter-final between Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner, which ended at 1:26. “This is perhaps the best match I have played here. It’s impossible to sleep now with all this adrenaline. If you have a party, I’ll come! “, he said to the Parisian public on the court, teasing the children who were still up at that hour.
The time ultimately perhaps matters little to the 37-year-old Serbian, who will face the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (27th) in the round of 16: his stunning victory allows him, at least provisionally, to retain the crown of world number one that he would have given up to another Italian, Jannik Sinner, in the event of elimination.
Asked about the late hour of his match which started after 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, the rain having further disrupted the programming, “I think that certain things could have been managed differently”, Djokovic simply replied.
A spectacular battle
Already, during their first confrontation at Roland-Garros in 2021, Musetti had made “Nole” tremble by leading two sets to nothing, before breaking down and then giving up. Three years later, there has been no abandonment. On the contrary, the two players engaged in a spectacular battle, during which the Tuscan held his own for a long time over his opponent 15 years his senior — 22 against 37 years.
This demonstrates this second set of almost 1h30 between the two men, during which Musetti, trailing 4-1, managed to unbreak to come back to level, before taking the set in the tie-break after having dismissed a ball two sets to zero in favor of Djokovic.
The programming in question
He then pocketed the third set, making the Serbian giant envisage the fall. Yes, but Djokovic, the man with a record 24 Grand Slam titles, was able to find the resources to get back on track. “I had a little luck at the start of the fourth set. He was the best player on the court at that time. I didn’t see a solution. He was impenetrable. I was really in big trouble. At 2 everywhere, you gave me energy and I was a different player,” thanked Djokovic while addressing the Parisian public.
All the news on Roland-Garros 2024
After such a fight, it remains to be seen whether his physique will last the distance. As for the mental side, Djokovic proved once again that he was not done.