Is Djokovic back on track to defend his French Open title?

PARIS — IT WAS WELL past 3 in the morning Sunday when Novak Djokovic finally raised his arms in triumph, as the dedicated fans in the stands at Court Philippe-Chatrier, many huddled in blankets, rose to their feet.

It had been five grueling sets and nearly 4½ hours of battling — and drop shots and relentless running. But the world No. 1 had finally gotten past Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 to advance to the fourth round at the French Open. It marked the latest finish in history for a match at the tournament, and the fatigue and relief was evident on Djokovic’s face as he addressed the crowd moments later.

“That was perhaps the best match I ever played here,” Djokovic, 37, said in French. “The most exciting. Thank you so much. And now, who’s going to sleep? It’s impossible to sleep now with all this adrenaline. If you’re going to celebrate, I’m coming too.”

It might seem surprising that Djokovic — a man tied for the most major title victories in tennis history with 24, and the defending champion at Roland Garros — would be so emotional about merely reaching the second week. But this season has been full of disappointments and early exits. When Djokovic fell behind to Musetti, 22, he had been staring down his worst result at a major since the Australian Open in 2017 and the loss of his No. 1 ranking. It would have been yet another shocking result, in a year full of them.

In those early hours Sunday morning, Djokovic rediscovered some of his signature magic — and potentially got his season back on track.

“Everyone has seen Djokovic’s struggles, and now players believe they have a chance to beat him, but if he starts to find the greatness that has made him who he is, that s— is out the window,” Brad Gilbert, Coco Gauff‘s coach and former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, told ESPN. “If the greatness of ‘Joker’ is there, it doesn’t matter what the other guy is doing, beating him is going to be extremely difficult.”

LAST SEASON, DJOKOVIC won three major titles and tied the overall Grand Slam record. In November, after advancing to the title match at the ATP Finals, he was asked how he would be able to stay motivated in the new season.

“Well, you can win four Slams and Olympic gold,” Djokovic said with a smile, but in complete seriousness. “I mean, I have always the highest ambitions and goals. That’s not going to be different for the next year, that’s for sure. The drive that I have is still there.”

But Djokovic’s dream for all four major titles ended early. He lost in the semifinals at the Australian Open in January to eventual champion Jannik Sinner, and since then he hasn’t been able to turn his season around. In the four tournaments he played after, he failed to reach a final and has experienced some truly baffling losses to players well outside the top 20, such as Luca Nardi in the round of 32 at Indian Wells and Tomas Machac in the semifinals at Geneva last week.

He was injured when a water bottle dropped onto his head at the Italian Open, and he later said the nausea, dizziness and headaches caused him made him feel like a “different player” on the court. He lost to Alejandro Tabilo two days after the incident.

He arrived in Paris having played at Geneva — a rarity for him during the week before a major — and clearly unhappy with how the season had fared. He said he had “low expectations and high hopes” for the French Open but was optimistic he could turn things around during the fortnight.

“I have been saying for quite a while that in terms of clay I want to peak here in Paris, in Roland Garros,” Djokovic said before play got underway. “Last year I had an amazing year, and particularly here in Roland Garros, and hopefully I can, yeah, have a great tournament.

“Of course it does affect me, you know, the five months that I had so far in the year that haven’t been great in terms of my tennis. That’s why I have a kind of an approach that is focused on a daily basis, more trying to build the form and momentum so that I can have a better chance to reach further in the tournament.”

And Djokovic has seemingly gotten better in each match he’s played at the French Open. He struggled at times with his movement in his 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4 opening-round victory over Pierre-Hugues Herbert, a wild card ranked No. 142 in the world, and he even took what appeared to be a hard fall by the net in the third set.

Djokovic appeared more confident, and was moving more freely, in his more straightforward second-round victory over Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.

Against the athletic and fearless Musetti, Djokovic needed to dig deep and find his way back, after blowing a 4-1 lead and set point on serve in the second set and then falling into a 2-1 deficit. But something happened in the fourth set at 2-all and he seized control — and then never looked back.

“It didn’t feel great playing him that third set [and] at beginning of the fourth,” Djokovic said after the match. “The crowd definitely got me going. I really needed that push, I really needed that energy. And 2-all in the fourth, they start chanting my name and I just felt a great new wave of willpower and energy. And I think I was a different player from that moment onwards. I think from that moment I probably lost only one game the rest of the match.”

THE LOSS TO SINNER at the Australian Open was the first sign Djokovic’s season wasn’t going to plan. But it was the loss to Nardi at Indian Wells that truly made his opponents take notice — and change their approach to matches against him.

After Casper Ruud defeated Djokovic — for the first time in six tries — in the semifinals in Monte Carlo in April, he said he had entered the match with a different mentality than in the past.

“I think what really motivated me and helped me a bit today was maybe that I thought about, you know, he lost a match in Indian Wells to Luca Nardi, and he showed there that he’s also vulnerable sometimes,” Ruud said after their match. “Not many times in a year, but a few days here and there he’s possible to beat … If you see that many or other players have beaten him before, you believe a bit more in yourself also.”

Tabilo had also watched Djokovic’s loss to Nardi and he too was shocked, but also encouraged by the result. He was nervous as he prepared for their round of 32 meeting in Rome, but also more optimistic than he would have been previously.

“It gives you hope,” Tabilo told ESPN this week. “It really does help also knowing that him coming in this year, he’s not at his best form. And that also not only gives you a little bit of confidence, but it gives you a little bit more hope that you can battle a little bit more with him.”

Gilbert said he believes players of Djokovic’s caliber have an aura around them, and most players don’t think they have any chance of competing with them. But when one is able to do it, it can change everything.

“When you’re someone like Talibo and you’re playing ‘Normal Djokovic,’ it’s like being down 3-0 when you’re walking to the court. That’s the equity that a player like Djokovic has and has built for himself with his results,” Gilbert said. “But then, when you see Djokovic on TV and he’s losing [the matches he has], you think, ‘Oh geez, I’ve never seen this happen, maybe it will happen again.’ Those kind of losses can change someone else’s self-belief and remove that advantage.”

Despite the lopsided 6-2, 6-3 score, Tabilo still didn’t believe he would pull off the victory until the final points of the match.

“I won the first set pretty comfortably and I was like, ‘All right, this can’t be this like this, he has to bounce back at some time,'” Tabilo said. “Honestly, I was even ready just to go for a third set already. I mean something has to happen, it’s Novak Djokovic. He can turn it around whenever.”

DJOKOVIC IS ONE major title away from surpassing Margaret Court for the most ever, and he already holds the most in the Open era and most among men. He has never publicly complained about the pressure that comes with chasing history, but others have spoken about the toll such expectations can take. Serena Williams, the 23-time major champion, spoke openly about it.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that record,” Williams wrote in the Vogue essay announcing her retirement in 2022. “Obviously I do … Maybe I thought about it too much, and that didn’t help.”

Djokovic did admit this week that he has struggled with staying motivated outside the big events like the Grand Slams and the Olympics, and he was concerned it would become a larger issue going forward.

“I know the moment is going to arrive sooner or later where I’m just going to have off weeks,” Djokovic said after his second-round match. “Where I’m struggling to push myself or deliver what needs to be delivered on the court … I’m focused pretty much solely on Grand Slams and Olympics this year, and playing for my country, really. That’s something that really drives me the most.”

There appeared to be no such issue late in the match Sunday, no shortage of drive as he ran down every ball Musetti hit his way. Now Djokovic not only remains in contention to defend his Roland Garros crown, but has worked his way back atop the favorites list.

But winning his fourth French Open title won’t be easy.

On Monday, Djokovic will face Francisco Cerundolo, the No. 23 seed who is back in the fourth round for the second consecutive year. They have never played before, but Cerundolo will have undoubtedly studied what players like Tabilo and Nardi did in their matches in order to pull off the upset.

If Djokovic advances to the quarterfinals, he will face Ruud, a two-time finalist at Roland Garros, or Taylor Fritz, who has dubbed himself “Claylor” due to his success on the surface this season. Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune and Alexander Zverev are possible semifinal opponents. Sinner, the No. 2 seed, and Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, are on the opposite side of the draw and could await in the final if Djokovic reaches it.

With Rafael Nadal, the 14-time French Open champion, eliminated in the first round in what is expected to be his final appearance at the tournament, Djokovic is the only men’s champion remaining. With Djokovic’s struggles in the months leading in, many believed this tournament could be the clearest signal of a changing of the guard in men’s tennis. But after Sunday, it appears Djokovic isn’t ready to concede just yet. And maybe, just maybe, the win over Musetti marked the turning point of his year that he’s been so desperately seeking.

“Obviously by his standards, this season has been a surprising one,” Gilbert said. “But he came to Wimbledon in 2018 having not won a major in over two years and [following] elbow injuries [and having undergone surgery] and then he won it. He could turn it around here again and win it. That’s the beauty of tennis and that’s part of his greatness.”