French Open 2021: Djokovic before Nadal-Clash - "My greatest rival"
At the French Open there is an "eternal" gigantic duel between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. The Serb wants to return the favor at the Sandplatzkönig for the lesson from the previous year
by SID
last edit: Jun 10, 2021, 06:29 pm
Novak Djokovic exploded. The Serbian tennis star roared madly, gave the advertising gang a huge kick, even almost threw the racket at his supervisor in the box. And when he made the giant semifinals at the French Open against Rafael Nadal a few moments later with an energetic performance, he uttered four primal screams into the Parisian night sky, which could even have been heard at the Eiffel Tower.
It is precisely this force of the "volcano" that the Spanish king of the clay court should experience on Friday when the superlative duel is on the program as an anticipated final. Nadal against Djokovic, 20 Grand Slam titles against 18, Paris record champion against number one in the world - it's the long runner, the top stars face each other for the 58th time.
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Djokovic is already hot. "I would probably choose Rafa as the greatest rival I've ever had in my career," said the 34-year-old after his emotional four-set win over Italian Matteo Berrettini in the quarter-finals: "The anticipation of the match against him, no matter which match, no matter what surface, no matter what the occasion, it is always different from everyone else. "
Playing against Nadal in Paris is "the greatest challenge there is," said Djokovic. The Spaniard's incredible statistics prove this impressively. The 13-time champion Nadal has an insane 105 wins and only two defeats in Roland Garros - but Djokovic inflicted one of them on him in 2015.
Nadal Favorit, Djokovic leads on the balance sheet
Nadal has been warned, of course. "The good thing is that you know you have to play your best tennis," said the 35-year-old: "The bad thing is that it's difficult because you are up against one of the best players in history."
So far, he has mostly succeeded in doing this at the French Open. The only defeat is matched by seven victories against the Serbs, the lesson in the final of the previous year was particularly impressive. At 6: 0, 6: 2, 7: 5, Nadal dominated his opponent in the first two sets.
Djokovic is burning for revenge - and he is "confident", said the 2016 Paris champion that he will reach the final against Alexander Zverev or Stefanos Tsitsipas from Hamburg. "I think," said Djokovic, "that I can win, otherwise I wouldn't be here. Let's have a great fight."
In the overall comparison, Djokovic leads wafer-thin with 29 wins and 28 defeats, but Nadal is the clear favorite. "Up until now he has dominated as always," said Eurosport expert Boris Becker of the Spaniard in an SID interview: "That is not just down to Nadal, but also to the opponents who don't believe in it."
If there is one thing in the "volcano" Djokovic, it is that.
Here the single tableau in Roland Garros
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