A year after the heartbreak of a torn meniscus and a mid-tournament withdrawal, Novak Djokovic returned to Roland Garros with a clean bill of health – and a golden memory.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion’s last visit to Paris ended in both despair and triumph: He exited the French Open injured but left town clutching his long-coveted Olympic gold medal for Serbia.
This time, it was all business.
Breezing through a blustery, damp afternoon on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Djokovic dismantled 98th-ranked American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round, brushing off early weather delays and never looking threatened.
“He makes it seem like a video game,” said McDonald, a 30-year-old Californian and former UCLA standout. “He wasn’t even at his top level. But if I had pushed him, he’d have found it.”
That glimpse of Djokovic’s upper gear came when McDonald reached triple break point at 2-3 in the second set. The Serb calmly fired back-to-back aces – 120 mph, then 123 – and capped the hold with a 122 mph service winner, slamming the door on any hope of a momentum shift.
Djokovic compiled 32 winners – 18 more than McDonald – and just 20 unforced errors in a match that eventually was played under the lights with the retractable roof closed.
“I’m a competitor, and losing stings,” McDonald said. “But playing Novak on that court is something I’ll remember.”
Before Djokovic, who just turned 38 and won his 100th career title last weekend, walked onto the playing surface, the stadium announcer introduced him by his total number of Slam trophies, the three he’s won at the French Open, and the Summer Games gold he won “here in Paris.”
“I still remember last year’s Olympic Games. It was the last time I was here,” Djokovic said afterward. “The emotion is very strong.”
The medal that means so much to him?
“I don’t have the medal with me. But I have a picture of the medal in my bag,” he said. “The medal is with my father. My dad likes trophies more than I do, so I gave him mine.”
Once Coco Gauff found her rackets – a relatively important piece of equipment for a tennis player – all was well for her in the first round. Gauff showed up on court, opened her bag and peered inside to find it was missing her rackets. The start of the warmup was delayed, but then everything went Gauff’s way. The 2023 U.S. Open champion got past Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-2.
Unseeded American Alycia Parks, ranked 52nd in the world, beat No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the women’s last match of the day. Muchova was the runner-up to Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros in 2023.
Other winners included the No. 3 seeds, Jessica Pegula and Alexander Zverev, and 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva. But 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev, seeded 11th, lost to Cam Norrie 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5 in a match that lasted nearly four hours.
More seeded men were sent home: 18-year-old Joao Fonseca dispatched No. 30 Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, and No. 16 Grigor Dimitrov quit while leading American qualifier Ethan Quinn two sets to one.
This marked the fourth consecutive major tournament at which Dimitrov has retired.
The second round begins on Day 4, with a schedule that includes defending champions Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz, 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini and two-time finalist Casper Ruud.
Swiatek meets 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in the day session’s final match in the main stadium.
