French Open 2025: Novak Djokovic wins his first round amidst ‘wind and rain’

Paris: Novak Djokovic – the 24-time major winner, three-time French Open champion, and most importantly Olympic gold medallist – walked out onto Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday to a swell of warm memories, an unforgettable triumph, a golden summer. “The emotions were really nice. Last time I was here playing was in the final of the Olympics,” he said. “Of course, I did relive those memories that were wonderful.”Paris ironically wore a different look on Tuesday, dark and dank, but the 38-year-old Serbian, who arrived on court in a long-sleeved undershirt, briefly battled the conditions more than his opponent American Mackenzie McDonald, before settling down to a score a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win in a shade under two hours.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The former No.1, seeded six this year, appeared to be pressing for the roof to be closed.Djokovic called the conditions in Paris very different from Geneva, “with the wind, rain and everything that was happening.”
“I was asking if and when they are going to make a decision to close the roof, and how long we will have to play (this way). It was pouring and affecting the court as well. The court was damp and there were a lot of bad bounces,” Djokovic said of his exchange with the chair umpire.“The first information I got was that they decided to wait. And so, I asked who is ‘they’ and where are ‘they’? The chair umpire said that it’s the supervisor and others,” he said, adding, “It was quite confusing, because on the radar they were seeing that it was going to stop, but it didn’t look like stopping.“At one point the supervisor told me, they’re playing everywhere on the outside courts in the same conditions. I said, yeah, but we are on the court with a roof. Why do you have the roof then?” Djokovic said.Djokovic, who claimed his 100th Tour-level title in Geneva on Saturday, joining Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer in an elite club, was back on court three days later, kicking off his campaign for what he hoped would result in a 25th Major title.