Sam Querrey makes bold Novak Djokovic French Open prediction after World number one’s ‘weird’ year’

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Sam Querrey believes Novak Djokovic will successfully defend his French Open title.

By his lofty standards the World number one has endured an underwhelming season, in which he has yet to win a title so far.

He had played just six matches on clay this year before taking a last minute wildcard to enter the Geneva Open, where he has reached the semifinals at the time of writing.

But given Djokovic’s strange form this season, his Roland Garros title defence may be in jeopardy, but Querrey thinks otherwise.

Sam Querrey predicts Novak Djokovic to win the French Open

Querrey previewed Djokovic’s chances at the 2024 French Open on the latest episode of The French Connection Podcast.

The former World number 11 knows exactly what it is like to face the Serbian and how difficult he is to defeat, especially at a Grand Slam.

Though he has played below his best for the majority of the year, the American expects the 37-year-old to hit the ground running in Paris and successfully defend his title.

“I don’t know if he’s ever done that before the French, but this is one of those weird years,” Querrey said. “He’s never had a year like this coming into the French. He has had a ton of early round exits.

“But I have been saying this for a while, as long as Novak Djokovic is in the draw, I’m picking him to win the tournament. He has been too dominant over the last eight years.

“The French Open is a different test from the previous five or six tournaments he has played, which are two out of three set events. With Novak in the draw, I am picking him to win it right now.”

What is Sam Querrey’s record against Novak Djokovic?

Throughout his career, Querrey played against Djokovic on 11 occasions.

The big server only won two of those matches, with the first coming in the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris.

After losing the first set without winning a game, Querrey rebounded to take the match 0-6 7-6(5) 6-4. His second and final victory over Djokovic is arguably the biggest of his career.

At the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, he claimed a 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 7-6(5) to knock out the two-time defending champion. Djokovic would not win the Wimbledon title again until 2018.