French Open: Novak Djokovic fights the odds to make history in Paris

Former tennis world number one Novak Djokovic can become only the third man in the history of tennis to achieve something that seems out of reach for most players: win every Grand Slam tournament more than once. Before last year had had won every Grand Slam tournament except the French Open but he finally managed to reach that goal after an almost perfect two weeks in Paris and just two sets dropped en route to the title. He defeated Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the final at Roland Garros and, after having already won the Australian Open in January 2016, it seemed that Novak Djokovic could win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year.

But things went from bad to worse after the French Open for the Serbian player. He took a well-deserved rest until Wimbledon but lost in the third round to American player Sam Querrey. Most people thought that was just a glitch in the software of the tennis-robot, especially after Djokovic returned to winning ways and claimed the Masters 1000 title in Toronto with no sets dropped in five matches. But then he lost in the first round of the Olympic tournament in Rio de Janeiro against Juan Martin del Potro, lost the US Open final to Stan Wawrinka and the Masters Cup to Andy Murray, not to mention early exits in Shanghai and Paris. He lost his number one spot in the world rankings to Murray, but his performance at the World Tour Finals gave his fans hope of a bright 2017.

Enter Andre Agassi, coach and mentor

Last year also saw the partnership with coach Boris Becker come to an end after almost four years of collaboration. Just before the 2017 French Open, Novak Djokovic decided to try a collaboration with former player Andre Agassi, who has never tried a career in coaching. Their partnership started very well as Nole defeated Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-4 6-2 in the first round of the tournament. "He's going to stay, I hope, until the end of this week," Djokovic said about Agassi. "Then he has to leave because he has some things that he cannot reschedule. I'm going to try to use the time spent with him as best as we can. So far plenty of information, plenty of things to process. I'm really enjoying it. It's going to take a little bit of time, and all the good things take a bit of time to get their real effect. I'm patient and for us this is a great way to start off our collaboration and friendship and get to know each other and then see where it takes us. It's hopefully something that can be long term."

In fact, Djokovic needs some guidance quite badly after he parted company with his long-time coaching staff last month after a very poor start to the season. He started the year with a title in Doha after beating Andy Murray in three sets in the tournament final, but hasn't won any more crowns since then and that is a very unusual trophy drought for a player that dominated the world of tennis for the past few years. He reached just one final since then, which he lost to youngster Alexander Zverev last week in Rome. But that tournament showed some very good performances from Djokovic on clay, especially in the semi-final against Dominic Thiem, which Nole won 6-2, 6-0. But apart from being a return to the place of last year's best moment, the French Open could mean another page of history for Novak Djokovic and the world of tennis. 

Record-breaking tennis

Nole already holds various records in tennis, one wouldn't believe just how many. He achieved the highest number of ranking points as world number one, surpassing a record that was standing since 1973, he achieved the first non-calendar year Grand Slam since 1877, he won ten titles in a single season and won 18 consecutive tournament finals and also had 30 consecutive Grand Slam match wins. These are just a few of his records, the list goes on and on. But what he can achieve now at the French Open is something special: win all the Grand Slam tournaments more than once. He has won the Australian Open six times, Wimbledon three times and the US Open twice. But he has only won the French Open once, just like Roger Federer.

The only two players that have won all the Grand Slam titles more than once were two Australians: Rod Laver and Roy Emerson. Rod Laver achieved a calendar-year Grand Slam at the beginning of professional tennis in 1969, while Roy Emerson won the Australian Open six times, plus the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open twice. Roger Federer has won more Grand Slam titles than any tennis player, 18, but like Djokovic, he only won the French Open once. The Swiss ace is still in activity but decided to skip this year's French Open in order to focus on his preparation for Wimbledon, where he has a better chance of winning.

Against the odds

Rafael Nadal, the bookmakers' favourite for winning the title in Paris this year, also is one title short of this record, but the one he misses in an Australian Open title as he has won the French Open no less than nine times (more than any other player in history).

Novak Djokovic will face Portuguese player Joao Sousa in the second round in Paris and he should get through to the next round without too many problems. He also has a pretty good draw up to the semi-finals, the most difficult opponent that he could meet would be Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals. Since he has demolished Thiem in Rome last week, we could say that his presence in the semi-finals is quite probable. The difficult part will start there as he would most likely face Rafael Nadal in the last four, a nearly impossible opponent to beat on clay. In fact, if Djokovic gets past Nadal he could have an easier task in the final, probably against Stan Wawrinka or Andy Murray if they manage to get that far.

Djokovic has the upper hand in the head-to-head record against Nadal, 26 wins to 24, but he has lost to the Spaniard on clay quite often. In fact, Nadal has won 14 out of 21 direct meetings on clay courts, including two French Open finals. The odds are in favour of Nadal and against Djokovic at this year's French Open, but that could actually be an advantage for Nole as he could find extra motivation from the underdog status.