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ROLAND GARROS – When Novak Djokovic and Federico Agustin Gomez practiced together several times at the Miami Open back in March, they were on opposite ends of the spectrum.

The 28-year-old, Miami-residing Argentine Gomez, who had gone through some very tough times as he gave it a final shot to resurrect his tennis dreams, was ranked No. 138 and had lost in the first round of Miami qualifying to James Duckworth.

He had qualified in Brisbane to start the season, losing his first-round match to Reilly Opelka. And after that, he’d lost six straight matches – seven, with the loss to Duckworth – as he tried to make the transition to the higher level of the ATP Tour.

And in early March, he made this post on Instagram and told his story.

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Gomez’s coach is good friends with Djokovic associate Carlos Gomez-Herrera, Gomez told Open Court. And through that, Djokovic got wind of it all.

“I made the (Instagram) post and then he approached me and then he asked if if I needed any help or anything. He was there to help me, and we started kind of a relationship, and it went on from there,” he said.

Just a few weeks later, they practiced several times in Miami.

It looked like this.

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We don’t need to state the obvious – that Djokovic can practice with literally anyone on the planet just with the crook of his little finger. But he chose to help a brotha out.

Fast forward two months, and …

The two reunited at Roland Garros at the start of this year’s event.

And the circumstances had changed.

After going down in the final round of qualifying – as far as he’d ever been, in just his third Grand Slam appearance – Gomez squeezed into a lucky loser spot.

So instead of hanging out at the tournament practicing after he was already out, the two were now equals – of a sort. Both were preparing for their first-round matches at a Grand Slam tournament.

In Gomez’s case, his Grand Slam main-draw debut.

Here’s how that went.

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“It feels great to practice with him. He’s been a great mentor for me. I’m happy the way he’s helping me, treating me as well. Like you said, before when we practiced in Miami it was only him who was still in the tournament,” he said. “We had a really good practice to get ready – both of us – for our first round match.

“I don’t think there’s a better there’s a better practice you can ask for before your Grand Slam first-round match,” Gomez added. “I’m happy that we could make that happen, and his team was very helpful for that to happen. I’m so, so grateful.”

18 years on, Djokovic on another quest to take down 1, 2 and 3

Djokovic won his opener against Mackenzie McDonald. Gomez also won his opener, in four sets against the very competent Aleksandar Kovacevic, who is ranked 70 spots higher.

It was his first-ever major win in only his second-ever match against a player ranked in the top 75; he went on to lose to Cameron Norrie in the second round.

Support from the legend

According to a feature on Gomez in L’Équipe, Gomez spent three weeks fine-tuning that March Instagram post, which was the result of six months of questioning everything, even his own survival.

After playing college tennis at the University of Louisville, and then the pandemic, Gomez was coaching in South Florida. He’d given up on his dreams. But then a benefactor stepped in and offered to help. Still, Gomez spent YEARS grinding it out at the lowest levels, before finally breaking through.

And then when he did get to the point where he could play the best tournaments in the world, it wasn’t anything like he imagined it would be.

From L’Equipe:

“When you play the tournaments at this level, you think about how much you’re going to earn, whether you’ll be able to spend or not, about what people will think if you lose unexpectedly,” he said. “When I was on the court if was often okay, a lot of thoughts were ‘off’. But outside, waking up for practice, preparing to play a match, all the recovery part … the thoughts came back and I told myself, ‘What am I doing here? If I don’t appreciate all these moments when I’m off the court, what’s the point of this suffering?’ I was constantly thinking. I was sleeping poorly.”

Gomez said the post resulted in a lot of support from his brethren.

“They all let me know that I wasn’t alone. A lot of them shared their feelings about their current thoughts or those in similar moments during their careers, and the way they got out of it,” he told L’Équipe. “It was great support, to know that we can help each other.”

You have to think that this kind of support from a legend of the game was a terrific boost for Gomez.

It’s the little things, and they don’t always get blown up on social media.