WATCH: Novak Djokovic blows a kiss towards Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in celebration after French Open 1R victory
Novak Djokovic indulged in a friendly moment with his former colleague Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after his first-round win at the 2024 French Open. Both were spotted blowing flying kisses to each other.
Djokovic got the better of French wildcard Pierre-Huges Herbert 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-4 in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday, May 28. This marked the Serb's 72nd win out of 75 first-round matches in all Grand Slam tournaments.
Herbert made a valiant effort rallying in the second set, but he ultimately couldn't trouble the Serb. Djokovic secured an early break in the second set, which went to a tiebreaker, but he still prevailed.
The exhausting tiebreaker couldn't lessen Djokovic's momentum as he repeated the outcome, which was similar to the first set. The 37-year-old clinched the third set 6-4 and advanced to the second round.
Following his triumph, Djokovic appeared in a video interview with Amazon Prime. A standout moment was a friendly exchange between Djokovic and former World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who now works as a tennis pundit for.
In the video, both can be seen blowing flying kisses to each other:
Tsonga and Djokovic faced each other 23 times in their careers. However, the Serb was way ahead in their head-to-head record, winning 17 of the total encounters against.
Their 2012 French Open quarterfinal clash is considered one of their all-time best in which Djokovic ultimately triumphed over Tsonga in a close five-setter, winning 6-1, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1.
"He could have easily won one of those two sets" - Novak Djokovic on Rafael Nadal's first round exit from the French Open
Novak Djokovic commented on Rafael Nadal's first-round loss at Roland Garros, noting that despite the straight-sets defeat, the second and third sets were very close and Nadal could have easily won one of them.
"Even though he lost in straight sets, second and third were really close. He could have easily won one of those two sets, and maybe the match was going in a different direction," Djokovic said in a press conference.
The Serb mentioned that Nadal was unfortunate to draw Alexander Zverev, who was in excellent form after winning in Rome and was serving exceptionally well, making it difficult to play against him.
"But he was a bit unlucky with the draw, because Zverev is in great form, winning Rome, and he was serving extremely well. It's tough to play Sascha when he's feeling the ball so well," he added.
He further noted that Nadal's performance in his first-round match at Roland Garros was significantly better compared to his earlier performances in Rome and Barcelona. He remarked that Nadal played at a much higher level in this match:
"I think he played very well compared to what we saw from his performance in Rome and Barcelona, I think he played really on a much higher level."
Nadal boasts an impressive 97.4% win rate at the French Open, securing victory in 112 out of 116 matches on the Parisian clay. Meanwhile, Djokovic, the defending champion, aims to claim his 25th Major title in Paris and will face Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round.