Novak Djokovic will approach Roland-Garros in doubt. The world number 1 has not won a single tournament in 2024 before the Paris meeting. And it is not the last minute addition to its program of the Geneva tournament that will change anything. The Serbian was knocked out in the semi-finals this Friday by the young Tomas Machac (23 years old) in three sets, 6-4, 0-6, 6-1.
Last minute invited to Geneva thanks to a wild card, Novak Djokovic hoped to draw a little confidence a few days before the start of the French Open, which begins on Sunday. Not sure that the objective was achieved… At the end of a strange match, made up of a few highs and a lot of lows, the world number 1 was eliminated Friday in the semi-final of the ATP 250 in Geneva by Tomas Machac (44th), 6-4, 0-6, 6-1.
No final contested since January 1
The score says everything about his wanderings, reinforced by body language which does not bode well before Roland-Garros. “Djoko” will thus arrive in Paris without the slightest final in his luggage since January 1st. The vagueness is total. The Serbian had to save three break points in the very first game but he managed to make the difference to lead 4-1 after half an hour of play.
Even if he never showed himself to be “djokosmic”, everything seemed more or less in working order. But he lost his break in advance. We then saw him get annoyed by a direct error on the backhand. Much less present physically, the Serb finally gave up five games in a row (6-4, in 58 minutes). It all didn’t smell good. At the change of ends, we even saw him grimace when the physiotherapist manipulated his right wrist.
The first surprise was to see him return to the match. The second, to start from the right end. A successful break in the second game then cut Machac’s legs, who signed a disastrous second set. Sometimes ruthless, sometimes absent, “Djoko” took the lead (6-0).
But, in a game deprived of any coherence, “Djoko” fell back into his faults at the start of the last set. A “catastrophe” game cost him his serve in the third game. Rebelote at 1-3, where he coughed up a double fault and committed a direct error on the backhand. Double break in his pocket, Machac did not tremble as he concluded. At the end of the match, Djoko gave the feeling of no longer playing. Five unforced backhand errors punctuated his last service game. The evil is deep. For his first final on the main circuit, Machac will face the winner of the match between Flavio Cobolli and Casper Ruud.
