Novak Djokovic backed to “win it all on the French red clay” by Serena Williams' ex-coach Rick Macci, if he stays healthy
Serena Williams' childhood coach Rick Macci recently backed Novak Djokovic to 'win it all' at the claycourts of France this year.
Djokovic is scheduled to kickstart his French clay swing at the Monte-Carlo Masters 2024. A month on from that, he will fly to Paris with a fourth French Open men's singles title in his sights.
At Roland-Garros, the Serb's win percentage stands at 85, which is lower than what he has managed in the three other Majors — the Australian Open (91%), Wimbledon (89%), and the US Open (87%).
Djokovic is also chasing the elusive Olympic gold medal, and the Paris Games, to be held on clay, might just be his last shot. He has competed in every edition of the Olympics held after 2004 but only managed to secure a Bronze in singles in Beijing (2008).
Macci, however, has bet big on the 24-time Grand Slam champion to ace the three aforementioned tests on clay if he remained in the pink.
"Depending on his health the JOKER [Novak Djokovic] is my pick Today to win it all on the French Red Clay," Macci wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Novak Djokovic: "Clay is the most demanding surface"
Novak Djokovic recently declared that clay has been the most taxing surface to play on for him.
"Clay is the most demanding surface. It takes me longer to reach my peak," he said in an interview.
The Serb is scheduled to start his Monte-Carlo Masters campaign on Tuesday, April 9. It will notably be his 17th campaign on the Monte-Carlo soil. The tournament remains his least successful of the other eight ATP 1000 events as he has only won it twice since turning pro in 2003.
Djokovic lifted his first Monte-Carlo Masters trophy in 2012 by ending Rafael Nadal's eight-year-long reign as the champion. He defeated Nadal 6-2, 7-6(1) in the final. Two years later, he prevailed for the second time by overcoming Tomas Berdych in the summit clash.
The two-time champion, however, hasn't reaped the rewards for his efforts in the past couple of editions. He faced third-round exits in 2021 and 2023 and a loss in the opener in 2022. In the interview, he reflected on the same, saying:
"Earlier in my career, I had better results here. The last five-six editions here have not been very successful. But that can change! I'm enthusiastic and excited to be here. I didn't play in Miami, I had more time to train on soil," he added.
The Serb has entered the main draw as the top seed and is already in the second round on the back of a bye in the first.