Jules Marie, French tennis player ranked 222nd in the ATP, played in the qualifying tournament for the Australian Open two weeks ago. And if luck did not smile on him on the courts, since he lost in the second round against Alexander Ritschard, he did however have the opportunity to cross paths with Novak Djokovic in training.
The latter heard about the Frenchman’s YouTube channel, who shares his daily life as a tennis player with his 114,000 subscribers on YouTube. So he insisted on hitting the ball with him, which gave rise to a funny sequence. After having contested several points, Jules Marie took the opportunity to ask a few questions to his opponent of the day.
The video was filmed before the start of the tournament, so he asked him for his prediction for the final winner: “I don’t really like to make predictions honestly. I obviously look at what I have to do to see what I have to do in my matches,” he replied in almost perfect French. The Serbian is therefore focused on himself and his performances, and said he is at ease in Melbourne, where he has already won ten titles: “I feel good here, playing at the Rod Laver Arena is like my house. Honestly the conditions, the sensations, all that… it’s magnificent. I hope I go far! »
The 36-year-old veteran still admitted to being wary of young shoots, who are increasingly invasive: “Afterwards, logically there are a lot of players who are there like Sinner, Alcaraz, Rune, Medvedev, Rublev…all the players who are at the top of the tennis world. We could see a surprise with young players, but I hope not this year! (laughs). More like another year where I won’t be here! »
For the moment, Djokovic seems to be putting up resistance since he qualified for the last four by beating Taylor Fritz in four sets. Jannik Sinner awaits him the next day, golden representative of the new generation.