tennisnet.com ATP › Grand Slam › French Open

Ion Tiriac: 'Nadal will always be number one in the world'

Ion Tiriac spoke to the Spanish magazine "Clay" about the past French Open, took his hat off to Rafael Nadal - and identified a "fatal" error in Novak Djokovic .

by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jun 18, 2022, 07:35 am

Ion Tiriac commented on Rafael Nadal's 22nd Grand Slam title
© Getty Images
Ion Tiriac commented on Rafael Nadal's 22nd Grand Slam title

Ion Tiriac is undoubtedly one of the most active observers of current developments in professional tennis. The former active player was not unaffected by the fact that almost two weeks ago it was Rafael Nadal again, who prevailed against the strong competition at the Bois de Boulogne and for the 22nd time had the feeling of winning the Grand Slam title. A unique record.

On the way there were three matches in particular in which Nadal had to struggle massively: first in the round of 16 against Felix Auger-Aliassime, in the quarter-finals against Novak Djokovic and finally in the semifinals against Alexander Zverev. A match that, as is well known, ended fatally for Germany's number one, who twisted his ankle at the end of the second set and had to give up due to injury.

Nadal beats Djokovic

In terms of performance, Tiriac was particularly impressed by his success over long-term competitor Novak Djokovic, as he explained in an interview with Clay magazine: "Nadal played very, very well in the match against Djokovic. To beat Djokovic, number one in the world . No, Nadal will always be number one in the world. You can't compare him. For me, not with Federer either," said the Romanian.

But the duel with Zverev also made an impression: A match that was extremely strange for Tiriac: "I've never seen a set like the first set by Nadal and Zverev in the semifinals. A set in which 11 games are played and in Nine the serve is given. Nine breaks. How is that possible? I don't know," said Boris Becker's former manager.

According to Tiriac, Djokovic makes "fatal" mistakes

The emotional roller coaster ride that Alexander Zverev repeatedly reveals with his serve, at least - to put it mildly - irritates: "How is it possible that Zverev, who has a cross-court backhand that is the best in the world, with his Serves second serve at 120 or 110 km/h and makes three double faults? That means emotions played a role. It was a very, very strange game, two sets in three hours. It's a shame he got injured."

Back to Novak Djokovic who has lost some ground to Rafael Nadal in the race for most Grand Slam titles. In no small part due to his attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination, as Tiriac also emphasizes: "I think that Djokovic made a fatal, fatal mistake with the vaccine question. Fatal for his image and all of that is a shame because he is a sensational player. He wants to be a personality, but he doesn't have the charisma of Nastase, of McEnroe. So it's a bit more difficult. But he's undoubtedly a great player and a great worker, but he's not Nadal!"

by Michael Rothschädl

Saturday
Jun 18, 2022, 08:04 am
last edit: Jun 18, 2022, 07:35 am