‘Novak has the ability to turn it on perfectly at the right time... he has that powerful aura’

Novak Djokovic has not won a Grand Slam for two-and-a-half years now. This season, he has only played three tournaments and in the latest of those, he was knocked out in the first match he played. Age is catching up fast. Fitness issues are refusing to leave. And the rising duo of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz is sweeping the Majors.

Amid all this arrives the French Open. The tournament can be considered the former World No 1's weakest, albeit there was a Rafael Nadal factor too. After all, he has won only three titles in Paris, his lowest count among the four Majors. So, is this his weakest chance to win a Grand Slam in recent times?

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Vedika Anand, tennis player-turned-commentator, cautions, "discount the greats at your own risk." She believes the Serb great still has a solid chance to win his 25th Grand Slam in Paris, especially with Carlos Alcaraz out injured.

In an exclusive interaction with Firstpost, Anand talks about Djokovic's chances at the French Open, other potential contenders for the Roland Garros throne and what could India do to revive its once-vibrant tennis scene.

Excerpts from the interview...

The French Open is coming, and a lot of Indian fans are looking forward to seeing Novak Djokovic. How do you reckon his chances are, you know, with fitness concerns? He has not played much this year. So how do you see him faring at the French Open?

Vedika Anand: I said this before, and I'll say it again, bet against the greats at your own risk. Novak, you know, has played a condensed schedule for the last two years and still made the semi-finals of all the Grand Slams and further, actually. So until he shows us that he can't make deep runs in Grand Slams, we don't discount him.

So I'm expecting him to do the same at Roland-Garros, regardless of what the schedule has looked like pre-Roland Garros and what Rome looked like for him. Novak has the ability to almost turn it on perfectly at the right time. The first few matches are what's going to be challenging for him.

Just to get the groove of things, he naturally gets significantly better in the second week of most slams. So once he gets through the first three, I think his ability to make it to the final or potentially even win is higher. With Carlos out of the mix, of course, he's gunning for that 25th title.

But if I know anything about tennis, I know Novak would love to win Wimbledon even more than he would love to win Roland Garros this year.

Novak Djokovic is currently chasing a record 25th Grand Slam and is expected to call time on his career soon. Reuters

So you talked about Carlos not being there. How big an advantage will that be for Djokovic?

Vedika Anand: See, the advantage is that the player he needs to beat the most is a player he just beat at the Australian Open, Jannik Sinner. So that's the advantage that Novak has. And tennis is all about matchups.

It seems like the matchup against Jannik is a little bit better for Novak than it is with Carlos. And if that's the case, then his chances are significantly higher, right? Because the man that he has to beat in the final potentially is going to be Jannik Sinner.

So I think Novak's feeling good from what I've heard from the inside. He's guns blazing, going after that 25th one from a training and preparation perspective. So I think Indian fans are going to be really excited with what Novak has to bring.

You mentioned Novak would be more comfortable with Wimbledon. So, can there be a chance that he will go into the French Open with a little less intensity and go all guns blazing in Wimbledon?

Vedika Anand: No, you only get four slams a year, right? So every opportunity you get, you're going to go all out. So I don't think he's going to take this lightly.

Novak Djokovic won four staight Wimbledon titles from 2018 to 2022. AFP

See, over the last six months and more, Carlos and Jannik have separated themselves from the rest of the field to such an extent that even beating one of them has become a task. So now here we have a situation where one of them is out of the mix, unfortunately. So for Novak, he's not going to let this opportunity go.

Yes, of course, that Wimbledon title is going to mean a little bit more to him. And we'd love to see him eating the grass at Wimbledon when he wins. But I think, regardless of that, the clay title is going to mean a lot to him, especially early on in his career, who was the guy who was constantly winning the clay titles? Rafa Nadal.

So for Novak to come out and be able to still be playing at this age and potentially go for a 25th title, he's not going to let that opportunity go.

So is it Djokovic and Sinner or is there someone else who can spoil the party?

Vedika Anand: So there are two players that I think are going to make a major splash. Well, three. Let's say three. I don't consider them as players that might take the title, but I'll say, potential contenders.

(Alexander) Zverev, of course, coming in, is just a consistent player, constantly consistent week after week. He makes deep runs. The title has been tough for him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he makes the semi-finals and finals.

Arthur Fils is coming back after that massive back injury to a season that's absolutely incredible. We don't see a lot of players coming out of injury and having such great runs. The racket speed generation that Arthur Fils has on his forehand and backhand sides is potentially the greatest in our sport right now.

And of course, the young Rafa Jodar, super excited to watch him play. He's someone that Som (Somdev Devvarman) had called out during our Australian Open broadcast as someone to watch out for. And Som was absolutely right because Jodar, over the last few weeks, has positioned himself in the top, well, in the top 20 and as a potential contender to make a deep run at Roland Garros.

Despite consistent deep runs, Alexander Zverev has not won a single Grand Slam. AFP

When I was growing up, there were Indians consistently appearing in Grand Slams and in doubles they were not just competing but winning as well. Slowly that has faded away. How sad do you think it is? And what's happening in the Indian tennis scene?

Vedika Anand: Karman (Thandi) did play qualifying and she had an unfortunate loss. But coming out of injury, multiple injuries, I think for a female athlete in India to be playing qualifying for Roland Garros after many, many years is something to be celebrated.

And of course, Yuki on the doubles side, on the ATP side, is something that we should also be celebrating. He's consistently making deep runs in tournaments over the last few months. And of course, that incredible semi-final run at the US Open in 2025 is not something that we discount...That being said, coming to your question on why we're not seeing more Indian players, I think we have some really promising juniors.

Maya (Rewathi) and Manas (Dhamne) are two players that I've been following for a long time. And I'm hoping that over the next few years, not just both of them, but more juniors come through the Indian tennis circuit to make it big in slams as well.

And how do you think the future can change for Indian tennis?

Vedika Anand: See, the biggest challenge we have from an Indian tennis perspective is developmental pipelines, right? That gap between the juniors and making it into the pro circuit is what's missing.

A Jannik Sinner, for example, how many people does he have on his team? A nutritionist, sports scientist, analyst, coach, assistant coach, he has a team of almost 10 people surrounding him. That's what it takes to become a Grand Slam champion in 2026.

In India, we barely scratch the surface of what we're providing our athletes to be able to compete at the highest level. So if we are gunning for a Grand Slam champion, or even someone who's making deep runs in slams, that structural support is very, very necessary. I'll give a shout out to (Rohan) Bopanna when he started his doubles dream, which gives access to all the players on the men's side, a coach, a physio that they can travel with.

It really opened up the ability to have more and more players from India playing the double circuit, right? Sania (Mirza) has done the same thing on the women's side with her next set. So I'm hoping that the push that our former athletes are making is going to help support our junior players both from a financial perspective and also from an infrastructure and structural perspective.

You've also worked with PTPA. So I would like to know how Novak Djokovic's thinking is different from other players with respect to not just tennis, but the thought process about the ethics of the game, the players and all.

Vedika Anand: Yeah, of course. I had the pleasure of interacting with Novak multiple times, with the work that I did at PTPA. And he's one of the most highly analytical thinkers that I've met from the tennis circuit.

Novak knows what's going on all the time, on the court, off the court, from an ATP governance standpoint. He's very tuned in to what's going on in the sport. And he served as an absolute role model for younger players to not only push for their rights, but also be a role model in the sense that he's encouraging them to take action in terms of what they want and what they desire and what they deserve.

So I had a great time interacting with him. And he really has the ability to capture a room, right? When Novak is talking, you don't say anything because his aura is like that he has that powerful voice and what he says makes a lot of sense.

And it comes from years and years of being on tour and comes from years of experience. So he's one of the I'd say he's one of the most well-analytical thinkers that I've ever seen.

Djokovic also said he'll be coming to India very soon. How big would that be for Indian tennis or for younger players?

Vedika Anand: Yeah, I think it will be great. I think from an Indian perspective, considering we're doing such a push to become sports giants with the 2030 CWG and potential 2036 Olympics, having global athletes coming to India in multiple sports is a great thing for us because it inspires not just our youth, but the general Indian population to consider sports as an economic booster. So if Novak were to come in and come to India, I think it would be an absolutely incredible feat.

And I'm hoping that Indian tennis does a lot around making that happen.

Watch Roland Garros 2026 starting from 24th May 2026 at 2:30 PM live and exclusive on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 5 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada), and Sony LIV