Đoković opened Roland Garros with a comeback against Mpetshi Perricard and secured the second round
Novak Đoković reached the second round of Roland Garros after defeating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Sunday, 24 May 2026, on the Parisian Court Philippe-Chatrier, by the score of 5:7, 7:5, 6:1, 6:4. The official Roland-Garros record states that the first-round match of the men's singles tournament lasted two hours and 51 minutes, and ended with a comeback by the third seed after losing the first set. The French tennis player, known for his extremely powerful serve, kept Đoković without a real solution on return for a long time, but the rhythm of the match changed at the end of the second set. After leveling the match at 1:1 in sets, Đoković took control of the rallies, reduced the number of errors and took advantage of the drop in his opponent's effectiveness on key points. With the victory, he continued his unbeaten run in the opening rounds of Roland Garros and began the tournament in a way that confirmed his ability to adapt even on evenings when the start is not under his control.
The French serve dictated the evening first
Mpetshi Perricard entered the match without complexes, relying on the shot that had earned him the reputation of one of the toughest servers on the ATP Tour. In front of the home crowd in Paris, he held his service games firmly, and according to the Roland-Garros report Đoković did not have a single break point in the first set. Such a development was important because it denied the Serbian tennis player the usual pressure he creates on the opponent's serve, especially at Grand Slam tournaments where experience and the ability to read the game often come to the fore in long matches. The Frenchman gained the decisive advantage at 5:5, when a break opened the way toward winning the first set. He closed the set 7:5 and further raised the atmosphere on the biggest court at Roland Garros.
According to the report on the tournament's official website, Mpetshi Perricard thereby became the first French tennis player in 14 years to win a set against Đoković at Roland Garros. That fact best describes how demanding the start of the encounter was for the favorite, but also how well the home player used his greatest advantage. After the match, according to the ATP Tour, Đoković said that in the first set he practically had no chance on his opponent's serve, emphasizing the precision and speed of the shot he was facing. In the same review, he stated that it was one of the most striking serves he had encountered in his career. Such an assessment carries special weight because it comes from a player considered one of the best returners in tennis history.
The key comeback came at the end of the second set
The second set brought a similar pattern, but also increasing pressure on Mpetshi Perricard's serve. Đoković began staying in points longer, returning more first serves into the court and forcing the French tennis player to hit additional shots after the initial advantage. According to the ATP Tour report, the Frenchman saved nine break points in that set, which shows how long he managed to postpone the change in the direction of the match. Still, at 5:6, after saving three set points with aces, he could not survive the fourth. Roland-Garros described that point as a 17-shot rally in which Đoković opened the court with a drop shot, and Mpetshi Perricard, after sprinting toward the net, sent a forehand out.
That moment was the turning point of the entire duel. Instead of the set going to a tie-break, Đoković reached 7:5 and leveled the match, while the Frenchman lost serve for the first time after almost two hours of play. In the continuation it was clear how much that game changed the psychological balance on the court. Đoković played more securely in the third set, read the direction of the serve better and reached neutral or attacking positions in rallies more quickly. Mpetshi Perricard, on the other hand, was no longer able to finish points so often with serve alone, and every longer point increasingly suited the player with greater experience in best-of-five-set matches. The third set ended 6:1 for Đoković, which clearly showed how much the dynamics had changed after the home tennis player's missed opportunity at the end of the second set.
Experience and return decided the match after the initial deficit
The fourth set was calmer than the first two, but it was not a formality. Mpetshi Perricard tried to come back with more aggressive first shots and shorter points, but Đoković already had a clearer picture of the rhythm of the serve and the space that opened after the return. According to the official Roland-Garros report, after leveling the sets Đoković broke the French player's serve three more times and thus neutralized the threat that had looked very serious in the first half of the encounter. The final 6:4 in the fourth set brought him passage without entering a fifth set, which can be important in a Grand Slam tournament where the strain accumulates from round to round. In that sense, the victory was more than a routine tournament opener: it was a test of adaptation, patience and physical concentration.
Đoković did not dominate from the start, but he withstood his opponent's most dangerous period. When he could not get to a quick break, he had to accept a different kind of match, in which every missed chance could extend the pressure. His advantage showed in his ability to remain within the structure of the plan even after nine unused break points, and then to use the tenth opportunity at a moment when the set was practically on the edge of a tie-break. Such risk control is often the difference between experienced Grand Slam champions and players still breaking through toward the biggest results. Mpetshi Perricard may regret the end of the second set, but his performance confirmed that his serve and physical strength can create problems even for the most experienced opponents.
Đoković continued his streak in Grand Slam first rounds
This victory also carried statistical weight. The ATP Tour announced that with his appearance in Paris, Đoković reached a record 82nd appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament in singles competition, moving ahead of Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez, with whom he had previously shared the top of that category. The same source states that with this victory he improved his record in Grand Slam first rounds to 80:2, with his last first-round defeat at one of the four biggest tournaments coming at the 2006 Australian Open. Roland-Garros also highlighted that Đoković is now 22:0 in first rounds of the Paris tournament, the best such unbeaten opening-round streak by any tennis player in the Open Era. Thus, despite the difficult opening, he maintained his perfect record at the start of Roland Garros.
His record against French players in Paris is also particularly interesting. According to the official Roland-Garros website, after the victory over Mpetshi Perricard, Đoković stands at 13:0 against French tennis players at that tournament. Such numbers are important because matches against home players on Court Philippe-Chatrier often carry additional emotional weight, a different atmosphere and more pronounced support from the stands. In this encounter, that support worked in Mpetshi Perricard's favor for a long time, especially after he won the first set. However, Đoković gradually quieted the stands, not with a sudden turnaround, but by methodically restoring control over the basic elements of the game.
The pursuit of a 25th Grand Slam title began with a demanding test
Đoković is competing in Paris as a three-time Roland Garros champion and winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, and the ATP Tour emphasizes in its preview and report that he is still chasing a record 25th title at the biggest tournaments. Ahead of the tournament, Novak Đoković's official website stated that he was world number 4 and the third seed in Paris, while the official ATP rankings of 25 May 2026 show Mpetshi Perricard in 80th place. The difference in experience, ranking and major titles was obvious on paper, but the match itself showed that the first-round draw was not simple. A player with such a serve, on home soil and in front of a crowd that reacts to every won point, represents a danger even for the favorite. That is why the way Đoković survived the initial pressure may be more important than the result itself.
In sporting terms, the match opened several questions for the rest of the tournament. Đoković showed that he can still find an answer even when an opponent dictates a large part of the play with serve in the first two sets, but it was also visible that he needed time to reach a stable rhythm. His uncharacteristic errors in the early phase, about which the ATP Tour wrote, allowed Mpetshi Perricard to remain in front for a long time. But after winning the second set, the Serbian tennis player no longer looked like a player searching for solutions, but like a favorite who had found the pattern. At a tournament such as Roland Garros, exactly such adjustments often decide how far a player can go.
Mpetshi Perricard made an impression despite defeat
Although he went out in the first round, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard can draw significant sporting capital from this encounter. On the tournament's biggest court, he won the first set against one of the most successful players in history and kept the match for almost two sets in a zone where Đoković had to constantly search for a solution. His serve was the central theme of the duel, and Đoković's statements after the encounter confirm that this was not merely a customary compliment to an opponent. When a player with such a return says that the serve is difficult to read and that it is an extremely rare experience, it clearly shows what level of danger the Frenchman can bring in future matches. The defeat is therefore a result that stops him in Paris, but it does not erase the quality of the first half of the encounter.
For Mpetshi Perricard, the decisive issue will be continuity after the first shot. Against Đoković he won direct points or created short rallies for a long time, but when the percentage of decisive serves dropped, he had to play more points in which the opponent had time to build pressure. On clay, that difference is especially noticeable because the serve, however powerful it may be, less often finishes the job by itself than on grass or faster hard courts. That is precisely why the second part of the match went to the more experienced and tactically more varied player. Still, the home tennis player confirmed that his game, if stable, can seriously disrupt the plans of even the biggest names.
Another French opponent follows
Đoković will play Valentin Royer in the second round, who, according to the ATP Tour, defeated Hugo Dellien 6:4, 6:2, 6:2 in the first round in one hour and 58 minutes. That means another duel with a French tennis player awaits him in Paris, and another atmosphere in which the crowd will not be neutral. Royer enters that encounter without the burden of expectation that follows Đoković, but also with a victory that gives him rhythm at the start of the tournament. For Đoković, the most important thing will be to avoid a slow start to the match, especially after the experience from the first round in which he had to make up a deficit. If he immediately establishes a more stable return and a lower number of unforced errors, he will be in a significantly more favorable position than against Mpetshi Perricard.
Đoković's first appearance at Roland Garros 2026 thus ended with a victory, but not with an easy passage. The score 5:7, 7:5, 6:1, 6:4 shows two different parts of the match: the opening period in which the French serve carried the encounter and the finish in which experience, return and endurance took the main role. In the context of a Grand Slam tournament, such matches often have the value of both warning and confirmation at the same time. The warning is that there is no safe start in Paris, especially against a player who has a weapon like Mpetshi Perricard. The confirmation is that Đoković, even when he loses the first set, still possesses enough tactical patience and competitive composure to find a path to victory.
Sources:
- Roland-Garros – official match record of Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard against Novak Đoković in the first round of the 2026 men's singles tournament (link)
- Roland-Garros – official report on Đoković's comeback against Mpetshi Perricard and the key moments of the encounter (link)
- ATP Tour – report on Đoković's victory, Grand Slam records, post-match statements and opponent in the second round (link)
- ATP Tour – official ATP singles rankings used to verify the players' rankings (link)
- Novak Đoković's official website – announcement of the Roland Garros 2026 draw and information on his status as the third seed in Paris (link)