Djokovic celebrated his victory at Roland Garros and also the historic achievement of Federico Gómez, with whom he keeps a close relationship both on and off the court
With his sights set on adding another Grand Slam to his career, Serbian Novak Djokovic started off on the right foot at Roland Garros. In the first round, he defeated American Mackenzie McDonald (ranked number 98) in straight sets with a triple 6-3.
After the match, the former world number one spoke at a press conference and, in addition to celebrating his own victory, expressed his joy over Argentine Federico Gómez's win, who advanced to the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Djokovic arrancó bien en Roland Garros
"Ah! He won? Fantastic. Bravo, Fede. Bravo, my friend. I'm very happy for him because he's a very good person, very nice, a very competitive player who always puts up a fight. He fights all the time," said the Serbian enthusiastically upon learning of the Argentine's achievement.
Gómez achieved this historic milestone after defeating American Aleksandar Kovacevic in four sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and 6-1) and will play the next round against Briton Cameron Norrie, starting at 8:30 a.m., Argentina time.
Fede Gómez pasó de fase por primera vez
The closeness between Djokovic and Gómez is no coincidence, since both shared training sessions during key stages of the calendar, such as at the Miami Masters 1000, a tournament in which the Serbian reached the final but lost to Czech Jakub Mensik.
Additionally, the bond was strengthened after, in March of this year, Gómez publicly confessed to going through a period of depression. In that context, Djokovic was one of the first to show him support: "I identify with many of the things he wrote, honestly. We all have dark moments, psychologically and emotionally we go through many things… I have a lot of empathy for him. I've already told him that I'm here to help him in any way in case he wants to share," assured the Serbian.
