French Open: Nadal vs. Djokovic

In the final of the French Open he goes for Rafael Nadal Y Novak Djokovic for more than one title. These are eternal records.

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Novak Djokovic does not hide his greed. On the other hand. “Trying to become historic number one is a big goal,” says the 33-year-old world number one. And let his great opponents Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal know exactly what he’s aiming for: “I think I can win the most slams and break the record for the longest number one.”

Djokovic, 33, said this in May on a television show, he does not hide the fact that he wants to go down in history as the tallest of the big three. His meeting this Sunday (3pm / Eurosport) with Nadal (34) in the final of the French Open should be the next important step. He could get his 18th title and get close to Nadal except for one. Federer (39), who is training after knee surgery, is 20.

And Djokovic, who has now been at the top of the world rankings for a total of 289 weeks and will soon be able to overtake Primus Federer (310), seems ready. He’s playing an exceptional year with just one loss in 38 tour matches, and that resulted from the embarrassing disqualification at the US Open.

The inner fire keeps burning in Nadal

He would currently be the easy favorite even against Nadal in almost every other tournament. But not at Roland Garros. “Here he is, of course, the favorite,” Djokovic admitted after facing Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6: 3, 6: 2, 5: 7, 4: 6, 6: 1 in the semi-finals: “After all the victories , it’s your living room. ” He sees it as “the greatest challenge in sport” to beat Nadal in the arena in Paris. He’s done it once before: in 2015 he inflicted one of only two defeats on Nadal at Roland Garros. Six times he left the field as a loser.

Nadal is even more cautious in his statements. He does not let his exceptional position in Paris hang with twelve titles, he has narrow lips on his career goals. “Of course I would think it’s cool to quit most Grand Slam titles, but it’s not something I’m obsessed with,” he said earlier this year: “And when Roger or Novak are in front of me, life goes on. . also continue “.

Inside Nadal, however, the fire burns. The Spaniard, who is surrounded by an aura of invincibility at the French Open despite the difficult conditions he has complained about, should at least have the big records in the back of his mind when he enters the red ashes to the duel. with Djokovic. After his victory by 6: 3, 6: 3, 7: 6 (0) against Diego Schwartzman, he wanted to add a shovel, Nadal said ahead of the final, in which he was once again the king of the clay with his 100th victory in Paris. can crown.

That is why he is prepared for a gigantic duel, in which it is a prize money of 1.6 million euros, a lot of prestige and also to some extent on the big picture of tennis history.

Here the unique painting in Paris