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The French Open clearly showed one thing: Roger Federer can only save his Grand Slam record himself.
Because the former Next Gen around Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev is not yet ready to keep his rivals for the throne, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, from more Grand Slam successes.
At the US Open, Dominic Thiem finally earned a new name. But even if the Austrian is currently the biggest danger to Nadal and Djokovic, without the disqualification of hardcourt dominator Djokovic, the title would have gone to Serbia.
Tennis classic: Djokovic versus Nadal
Because Djokovic hardly goes without a panic and Nadal is also back when the final of the French Open takes place in the 56th duel between the two. The Serbian leads with 29:26, but on clay the tide turns in favor of the clay king, Nadal (17: 7).
Before the French Open, Federer (20 titles), Nadal (19) and Djokovic (17) together won 56 Grand Slam titles. An incredible number. Legends like Pete Sampras (14), Björn Borg and Rod Laver (11 each) or Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl (8 each) did not even come close to dominating the trio.
Therefore, it is clear that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic will decide among themselves in the last years of their careers who will go down in history as the greatest legend of the sport.
Federer feels Nadal and Djokovic in the neck
The Swiss are still ahead of the game. But while Federer can currently only watch after knee surgery, Nadal and Djokovic will fight for the title in the Grand Slam final of recent years, which is more important to many experts.
In the final, Nadal can not only increase his incredible number of titles in Paris to 13, but also establish the incredible mark of Federer.
However, the Spanish does not attach too much importance to the race. “Of course I think it’s great to stop with most Grand Slam titles, but it’s not something I’m obsessed with. And when Roger or Novak are in front of me, life goes on,” the 34 Yearlings told already. beginning of the year.
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Djokovic hot for Grand Slam record
The situation with Djokovic is completely different. The world number one, who played a lot of sympathy among fans of neutral tennis with some strange statements and actions during the crown pandemic, absolutely wants this record, and he openly admits it.
“Trying to become the all-time number one is a great goal,” said Djokovic: “I think I can win the most slams and break the record for the longest number one.”
Djokovic is probably right. The 33-year-old is the best player in the world on hard court and with the Australian Open and the US Open he has two great opportunities to expand his collection of titles each year. At Wimbledon, he is now the top seed, ahead of Federer and alongside Thiem, the greatest danger for Nadal.
Federer, 39, is unlikely to win a Grand Slam outside of Wimbledon. Nadal is likely to only succeed on hard court if another player takes Djokovic out of the way, or if the Serb does it himself, like at this year’s US Open.
Djokovic ennobles Nadal before the final
The final of the French Open is equally important to the question of who is the best player of all time. If Djokovic wins, it is not unlikely that he will catch up with Federer in 2021 or even surpass him.
But Djokovic is aware of how difficult the task will be on Sunday. For him, it is “the biggest challenge in sport” to beat Nadal at the French Open. “Isn’t it obvious? I don’t think any other player has won a tournament as often as he has here,” Djokovic said.
Under normal circumstances and warm conditions in June, Nadal would advance to the final as a favorite. But the cold and humid external conditions of October with the unusually heavy balls rob Nadal of his greatest strength in the arena – his topspin is hardly effective.
However, Nadal did not make a single sentence on the way to the final, although he did not want to overestimate his performance and said self-critically after the semifinals: “I have to improve remarkably on Sunday.”
Nadal aims for 100th French Open win
If that is successful, Nadal could celebrate his 100th victory at the French Open. Only Federer achieved this at the Australian Open (102 wins) and Wimbledon (101), an equally sensational performance, although he needed a few more starts.
At least the same is at stake for Djokovic, who wants to surpass Nadal and Federer in the Grand Slam race. Also, if he had won, he would have won every Grand Slam at least twice; no player has ever done it in the Open Era.
Djokovic himself had a bit more trouble than Nadal on his way to the final. Especially in the quarter-final match against Pablo Carreño Busta, against whom he was disqualified at the US Open, he diverted the role for a good hour and was happy that the Spanish only punished this with winning a set.
According to his own statement, the Serbian felt pain in his neck and shoulder, but it subsided on its own throughout the game.
Carreño Busta gossips about Djokovic
Carreño Busta said: “Every time the game gets tough, he seeks medical help. He has been doing this for a long time. He knew what was going to happen at the US Open, what was going to happen here and what was going to happen next.” .
Your former coach and today’s Eurosport-Expert Boris Becker, on the other hand, suspected mental reasons for the pain in Djokovic, as Carreño Busta reminded him of his knockdown at the US Open.
The fact is that in the semifinals you saw little of Djokovic’s pain. After a match point in the third set, he did not allow himself to focus properly and even had to enter the fifth set against a strong Tsitsipas. But there he showed his class again.
Djokovic is aware that he cannot afford similar retirements against Nadal. As the sole active player, he at least knows the feeling of beating Nadal at the French Open. Djokovic accomplished this in the 2015 quarter-finals, his only victory in seven games with Nadal in Paris.
He is clear that this time the giants duel is not only about a trophy and a cash prize of 1.6 million euros, but also about a large part of tennis history.
