"Revenge makes him the favourite" - Wilander on Djokovic ahead of the French Open

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Mats Wilander believes Novak Djokovic will be ready to unleash his frustrations from a stop-start year so far, making him the favourite to win the French Open.

The defending champion will be competing in his first major of 2022, after he was forced to miss the Australian Open when he was deported from the country because of Covid vaccination status. His view on vaccines also meant he missed big tournaments in the US, such as Indian Wells, and his build up to Roland-Garros has been mixed - although he now looks to have found his groove.

Wilander said:

“I think Novak has to be the favourite. Winning in Rome will be huge for his confidence but Novak also has a feeling of revenge with everything that happened to him over the past few months that will give him strength."

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Wilander continued:

“He is defending the French Open after not being able to play at the Australian Open so that’s huge as well. Now that he’s shown he can play tough matches, huge matches, even though he lost to Alcaraz in Madrid, he has shown he can play for a long time. In Monte Carlo, he looked bad in his match in the end with Davidovich [Fokina]. He looked bad, tired but suddenly now he looks much better.”

Wilander finished off with:

“He believes in the past, then the past will help him in the present time and that is where Novak has his strength. As soon as he believes he is making the right choices, then that’s when I believe he is back to being the best player in the world. I think he will be back at that point. I don’t think he is hitting the ball as well as he did in the past, I’m sure the confidence is not the same as it was in the past but I think if he believes in his own choices then he will be unstoppable."