"I knew" - Novak Djokovic's wife Jelena caught smiling while Serb trailed in French Open 3R, hints at her confidence in his ability to win even then
Novak Djokovic pulled off an incredible third-round comeback win at the 2024 French Open in the early hours of Sunday (June 2), overturning a 1-2 deficit against Lorenzo Musetti to finally win in five sets. As it turns out, even as he was trailing, his wife Jelena knew that his victory was never in doubt.
The cameras at Roland Garros focused on the Serb's wife at the beginning of the fourth set, just as he was looking to mount a comeback. Instead of being worried, however, she cut a happy figure, smiling widely without any sign of tension.
The score at the time read 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-2, 1-1 in Musetti's favor. From that point on, the 24-time Grand Slam champion went on to win 10 of the next 11 games, wrapping up the match 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 after more than 4.5 hours of play.
Taking to social media, journalist Jose Morgado shared the photo of Jelena Djokovic and how the tide turned in her husband's favor after her smile. Reacting to the tweet, Jelena joked that it was as if she knew the World No. 1 would go on to complete the comeback anyway.
"As if I knew," Jelena wrote along with a winking face emoji.
Following his win over Musetti, the 37-year-old will now take on Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round of the French Open as he looks to defend his title in Paris against the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev.
"I had a bit of luck" - Novak Djokovic on his French Open 3R comeback
Speaking at his on-court interview afterwards, Novak Djokovic admitted that he pulled off the comeback mainly thanks to a "bit of luck" he had in the fourth set. The Serb conceded that Lorenzo Musetti was the better player up until that point before he got his second wind.
He also revealed that he congratulated the Italian at the net on their "great battle," acknowledging that it was shame for him to come out as the loser at the end of the night in a very close fight.
"I said to him that it was a great battle. It was a shame for him to lose because he really wanted to win this match and it was very close. I had a bit of luck right at the beginning of the fourth set because he was the better player on the court at that time," Djokovic said.