{"id":1949906,"date":"2026-05-22T18:45:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1949906"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:45:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:45:25","slug":"novak-djokovics-french-open-opponent-picks-an-interesting-practice-partner-ahead-of-sundays-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1949906","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic&#8217;s French Open opponent picks an interesting practice partner ahead of Sunday&#8217;s showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Novak Djokovic\u2019s French Open opponent picks an interesting practice partner ahead of Sunday\u2019s showdown<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/kevin-palmer\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Kevin Palmer                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"22 May 2026 7:45 PM\" data-ps-date=\"22 May 2026 7:45 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1779475525\"><br \/>\n                            22 May 2026 7:45 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on 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                       <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Novak Djokovic\u2019s French Open opponent picks an interesting practice partner ahead of Sunday\u2019s showdown\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Novak-Jo-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Novak Djokovic and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Novak Djokovic and (inset) Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Novak Djokovic faces a perilous task as he takes big serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his opening match at the French Open, in a match that could be a nightmare for the Serbian legend.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Djokovic<\/a> is heading into the second Grand Slam of the year horribly undercooked, as he has just one clay court match under his belt against Dino Prizmic, which he lost at the Rome Masters.<\/p>\n<p>He would have been hoping to get an easy draw and work his way into the form in Paris, but home favourite Perricard is one of the unseeded players to avoid as he has a power packed game that can threaten the best.<\/p>\n<p>Perricard is being coached by Greg Rusedski and the former British No 1, who revealed they have been practicing for their blockbuster opening match with a player who has locked horns with Djokovic time and again in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Daniil Medvedev has sparked back into form in recent weeks after starting the clay court season with a 6-0, 6-0 defeat against Matteo Berretinni at the Monte Carlo Masters in April and he has been giving Perricard some high quality practice at Roland Garros.<\/p>\n<h2>More Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/french-open\/aryna-sabalenka-abruptly-ends-press-conference-top-players-bold-media-duty-scaleback\">Aryna Sabalenka abruptly ends French Open press conference as players weigh in on media duty scaleback<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/former-no-1-makes-bold-novak-djokovic-french-open-prediction-serb-looks-grand-slam-no-25\">Former No 1 makes bold Novak Djokovic French Open prediction as the Serb looks for Grand Slam No 25<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe practice session today was brilliant with Medvedev, best I\u2019ve seen him play so far in the time we\u2019ve been together, so that\u2019s the huge positive,\u201d said Rusedski on the latest edition of his podcast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat a blockbuster for an opening. It\u2019s a little bit of a rough section in there as well too. They\u2019ve got (Joao) Fonseca, (Dino) Prizmic, (Alex) De Minaur, (Jakub) Mensik in that little quarter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I can\u2019t wait to start up. And Joe\u2019s in great spirits. We had a good team dinner last night, and everybody\u2019s feeling good and positive about what\u2019s coming up on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic appears to have requested a Sunday start to ensure he has a full day break in between each match in the first week, but he might struggle to get through the rounds after his limited preparation.<\/p>\n<p>Rusedski went on to reveal he has been talking to Medvedev\u2019s coach, his former rival Thomas Johansson, as he prepares for the first big test of his new partnership with Perricard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMedvedev practiced with Novak Djokovic recently, so we had the perfect person to practice partner,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know the coach, Thomas Johansson. So what coaches usually do, we usually talk to each other. So we don\u2019t give away secrets, even on my podcast of what\u2019s going on! But, you know, this is where friendships, relationships and you talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rusedski also paid tribute to the work Johansson is doing with Medvedev, after he remodelled the Russia\u2019s forehand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas is doing a great job he\u2019s been doing with Daniil Medvedev,\u201d added Rusedski.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like the change on the forehand, I like the way he\u2019s returning better, the way he\u2019s transitioning forward. So coaches talk to each other when they see improvements and compliment each other as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt kind of is like a union of having ex-players there together. I took a little data, I watched a little bit myself, and I also spoke to Thomas as well about that session. So I\u2019m keeping that close to my chest. That\u2019s for Joe (Perricard) to deal with, and you\u2019ll find out Sunday night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-injury-update-french-open-predicts-options-end-jannik-sinners-run\">Novak Djokovic confident he has \u2018options\u2019 to end Jannik Sinner run and win French Open after injury update<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic\u2019s French Open opponent picks an interesting practice partner ahead of Sunday\u2019s showdown Kevin Palmer 22 May 2026 7:45 PM Novak Djokovic and (inset) Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard Novak Djokovic faces a perilous task as he takes big serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his opening match at the French Open, in a match that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1949906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1949906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949906\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1949906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1949906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1949906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}