PARIS — Novak Djokovic will set a record Sunday the moment he steps on court for his opening match at the French Open, facing Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the night session on the opening day of main-draw play for the clay-court major championship tournament.
Two days after his 39th birthday, Djokovic will play in his 82nd Grand Slam tournament — one more than Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez — to set the record for men’s singles.
For all his experience, though — he shares the record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles with Margaret Court — Djokovic comes to Roland Garros with hardly any match preparation. He lost to Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic at the Italian Open in his only match on clay this year, playing after two months out due to a right shoulder injury.
“I wanted to play more but my body was not allowing me,” Djokovic said, adding he “was far from ready to compete” in Rome. “But, still, I needed at least that one match just to have the score called by the chair umpire and have experience of the nerves before I eventually come to Roland Garros, which at that point I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play or not.
“Thankfully, the response of the body and the preparation has been positive in the last 10 days, so here I am, and we’ll see what happens.”