Who is Novak Djokovic’s first Geneva Open opponent? World No 134 Marton Fucsovics
Novak Djokovic will look to finally kickstart his clay-court season when he takes to the court at the Geneva Open on Wednesday, just days away from the start of the French Open.
Defeats to Alejandro Tabilo at the Monte Carlo Masters and Matteo Arnaldi at the Madrid Open have left the 37-year-old undercooked heading into Roland Garros, with the Serb 0-4 in sets on clay in 2025.
With that in mind, Djokovic has decided to take a wildcard into the ATP 250 event in Geneva, having made the same decision twelve months ago.
And he now knows who he will face in his first match of the tournament, with world No 134 Marton Fucsovics awaiting in the second round.
Career highlights
Though currently outside the top 130 of the ATP Rankings, 33-year-old Fucsovics has been ranked as high as world No 31 in the past.
The Hungarian reached his career-high ranking back in March 2019, having previously won his first ATP Tour title at the 2018 Geneva Open – the event he now faces Djokovic at.
He downed Peter Gojowczyk in the final to capture the title, before later losing the 2019 Sofia Open final to Daniil Medvedev.
Fucsovics would later reach his third ATP Tour final at the 2021 Rotterdam Open, where he was beaten by Andrey Rublev, before defeating Mariano Navone to claim the 2024 Romanian Open title last spring.
His best Grand Slam run came at Wimbledon in 2021, beating 19th seed Jannik Sinner in round one, ninth seed Diego Schwartzman in round three, and fifth seed Rublev in the fourth round.
The Hungarian then fell to Djokovic in the last eight.
Fuscovics also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in both 2018 and 2020, while also making the second week of the 2020 French Open.
2025 season
The highlight of the 33-year-old season was his run to the title at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manama.
Fucsovics did not drop a set on his way to the final, where he battled past Andrea Vavassori in three sets to triumph in the Bahraini capital.
At ATP Tour level, his highlight of the season was his run to the semi-final of his Romanian Open title defence, falling to eventual runner-up Sebastian Baez in straight sets.
Heading into Geneva, Fuscovics had last played at the Italian Open in Rome, falling in the second round of qualifying to Alexander Shevchenko.
That came after an opening-round qualifying defeat in Madrid, though he returned to winning ways in Geneva with an emphatic 6-2, 6-3 round-one triumph over Zizou Bergs.
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Head-to-head
Despite his recent form struggles, Djokovic should approach this match with confidence, having won all five of his previous contests versus Fucsovics.
However, not all of those matches have been straightforward.
Fucsovics took a set off Djokovic when they met for the first time in the opening round of the 2018 US Open, the Serbian prevailing in four sets to kickstart a successful run to the title.
Djokovic was pushed to a deciding set by the Hungarian at the 2019 Qatar Open and 2021 Paris Masters, though he recorded straight-set victories at Wimbledon in 2021 and Roland Garros in 2023.
The pair are set to meet in the second round of the Geneva Open on Wednesday, with the exact order of play yet to be confirmed.
