Roland GarrosPair meeting for place in Paris fourth round
May 30, 2025
Filip Misolic
Filip Misolic trained with Novak Djokovic in August 2024. By ATP Staff
Filip Misolic will hear opportunity knocking Saturday at Roland Garros, where he takes on three-time champion Novak Djokovic for a spot in the fourth round.
While the 23-year-old Austrian may be in uncharted waters — his deepest run at a Grand Slam tournament — he can draw on his experience. Misolic trained with Djokovic prior to last year’s US Open and has already faced other former major winners Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem so far in his career.
”Thanks @djokernole for an amazing week,” Misolic wrote on Instagram to Djokovic, who liked the post and followed the Austrian.
The No. 153 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Misolic turned pro in 2019, and it has since been a steady rise. He reached his maiden ATP Tour final on home soil in Kitzbuhel as a wild card, defeating Top-100 opponents Pablo Andujar and Dusan Lajovic en route.
“I knew that if I worked hard, maybe someday I could make the final of an ATP [tournament], but I would never say that in my first main draw I would play the final,” Misolic said after his run in Kitzbuhel in 2022. “I’m very happy and it’s a huge motivation to work harder and play more finals.”
Hailing from Graz, Austria, Misolic has grown up relishing clay-court tennis. He has hauled three ATP Challenger Tour titles during his career, all of which have come on the surface, including earlier this month in Prague.
Last year in the French capital, Misolic qualified for the main draw before falling to then-World No. 27 Francisco Cerundolo in the second round. Last month, he reached the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 in Bucharest, but lost to eventual champion Flavio Cobolli.
While Djokovic is chasing a record 25th major title, the reward for Misolic is also considerable. The Austrian began the year outside of the Top 300 in the PIF ATP Rankings, but with a win in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head match with Djokovic, he would surge 42 spots to a career-high No. 111 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
“I began playing when I was six. My sister injured her knee and we already had courts for the winter. Then I started playing with her coach and we realised that I wasn’t that bad,” said Misolic, who claims his tennis idol was Andy Murray, Djokovic’s former coach. “I like to practise at home because there I feel most comfortable.”
That quiet, grounded mentality has helped Misolic to this point. He will now attempt to score the biggest win of his career against Djokovic, who owns a 98-16 record at Roland Garros, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
