French Open 2023: Aggressive Novak Djokovic playing tennis ‘on his terms’ at Roland-Garros says Tim Henman

Aggressive Novak Djokovic showed he wants to play “on his terms” at the French Open, says Eurosport analyst Tim Henman, while Alex Corretja believes the Serbian is returning to top form after his first-round win over Aleksandar Kovacevic.

Talking in The Cube as part of Eurosport’s exclusive French Open coverage, Barbara Schett pointed out an increased aggression in the Serbian’s game that saw him lose just seven points on serve in the first two sets combined.

“We talked about Djokovic at the Australian Open and thought ok, he’s playing so aggressive, that’s probably because of his hamstring injury,” said Schett.

“But when I watched him here today, I was thinking this is clearly his game plan, he’s taking it to a different level with his aggression out there”.

Schett asked former British No. 1 Henman if he thinks this style points to what lies ahead for the third seed.

“I think it’s another example of when he’s playing tennis on his terms. In Australia he had to keep the rallies short because he didn’t want to do so much running,” Henman said.

“But when you see him in this type of form, [he is] timing the ball so well and so accurate from the back of the court. On his serve he’s just so consistent.

“It’s only one match and Djokovic is one of the greatest champions in the history of our sport, but I just think it’s a very solid start. There was no messing around.

“Third set he came through some difficult moments and I don’t think he’ll be disappointed by that, you have to deal with those slightly nervous moments. But to get that straight-sets win, in his mind it’s one down and six to go.”

Alex Corretja, watching from court-side in Paris, also picked up on the aggressive approach of the 22-time Grand Slam winner on Philippe-Chatrier.

“My impression is that he’s hitting the ball harder than he used to. I think he realised that when he gets this rhythm, it’s so difficult for the opponent to stay at that level,” said Corretja.

“At the same time, he needs to move very well, because he can make a lot of mistakes. Today the conditions are very difficult, the wind is huge, especially to one side.

“It’s not that easy because you feel on this side the wind against you all the time, you feel useless there. Maybe that’s why players are using a lot of drop shots, your serve is not as efficient.

“But it seemed to me that Novak knew exactly what he wanted to do, his backhand is perfect and in my opinion his forehand is improving a lot.”

Djokovic is competing at Roland-Garros after an injury-disrupted season so far in which he missed key French Open preparation tournaments in Madrid and Barcelona.

But Corretja doesn’t harbour concerns about the fitness of the 36-year-old after seeing him up close.

“I feel it’s just a matter of time, just a few more matches,” said Corretja.

“He played enough matches to feel like he can play well here at Roland-Garros this year, maybe not as many as people think he needs, but I feel that as the tournament goes on, he will adjust the footwork [and] his forehand will work better.

“When he serves well, it’s always good. His forehand is always good. But the thing is his forehand – when you see his forehand is bouncing high to the sides, that gives him so much space to change down the line or go cross-court with the backhand.

“That’s so easy for him when the ball is bouncing. Today was very sunny and hot so I think it suits his game very well.”

– – –