Steve Johnson admits he’s said something ‘crazy’ about Novak Djokovic before the French Open which sounds ‘absolutely insane’ out loud

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Novak Djokovic is on the search for form heading into the 2025 French Open.

Djokovic is winless on clay so far this year, with his most recent defeat coming against Matteo Arnaldi at the Madrid Open.

The Serbian then elected to withdraw from the Italian Open, and Djokovic has also split from coach Andy Murray since his latest defeat.

Despite skipping the tournament in Rome, Djokovic received a wildcard for the Geneva Open as he looks to get some final match practice in ahead of Roland Garros.

Steve Johnson admits he’s said something ‘crazy’ about Novak Djokovic

Djokovic also played the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva last year, reaching the semi-finals before losing to Tomas Machac.

As the 37-year-old seeks some match wins on clay and a historic 100th ATP title, former world number 21 Steve Johnson admitted something ‘crazy’ about Djokovic’s current situation.

“He is just trying to find some – it’s crazy to say – but trying to find some confidence, some rhythm and some match toughness which is absolutely insane, when I say that out loud,” Johnson said on the Nothing Major Podcast.

“But Geneva is a great place to do that. It is a quiet venue. It’s a comfortable place. It’s very easy to get to. But he is just trying to win some matches.

“I don’t know if he is going to win this tournament or make it to the semis, but he is trying to find something in his game.

“It will be a little different with the news that he is no longer working with Murray, which we all thought was going to happen at some point.

“I was under the assumption that it was just going to happen after Wimbledon because of obvious reasons, with Andy being there and in his box and having the crowd support.

“But I don’t know any more with Novak because I feel like his tennis is still good but it’s just not at the level it has been in years past. I don’t know if that’s the competitive drive to win these tournaments. I just don’t know what is getting him up and getting him to compete to be better any more.”

Novak Djokovic’s Potential Draw at the Geneva Open

Djokovic’s last triumph came at the Paris Olympics, but he has not lifted a trophy on the main tour since the 2023 ATP Finals.

He will be hoping to bring an end to that drought at the Geneva Open, where Djokovic is the second seed behind Taylor Fritz.

Some of the potential threats to Djokovic include Fritz, Machac, Karen Khachanov, Hubert Hurkacz and Alexei Popyrin.

Before Djokovic can turn his attention to any of the aforementioned players, he will play Hungarian Fabian Marozsan.

They have never played before, but Marozsan is likely to be a threat with previous victories over Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Holger Rune.