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Rafa Nadal has the perfect opportunity to equalize Roger Federerrecord of 20 Grand Slam titles in the open French He has done his thing, but for once the conditions are against the King of Clay heading into the rescheduled tournament.
A record 12-time winner at Roland Garros, Nadal typically lands in Paris in May fresh from playing on the clay-court season from Monte Carlo to Rome, before crushing suitors to his crown at Roland Garros.
He has won three of his French Open crowns without losing a single set.
But this time he is heading to the French capital after playing just three games in the last six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic that led to his decision not to participate in the US Open over concerns about the virus.
He resumed with a pair of wins against Dusan Lajovic and Pablo Carreño Busta at the Italian Open last week, but the oxidation of the long break was evident during his shocking quarter-final loss to Argentina. Diego schwartzman.
Nadal made 30 unforced errors against Schwartzman and gave up his serve five times in the straight-sets loss, explaining the loss as due to a “completely special and unpredictable year.”
For six times Grand Slam champion Boris beckerNadal’s poor preparation could prove costly.
“Even a Rafael Nadal he needs game practice, and that’s missing this year, “Becker said.” He’s still my number one for the title, but I think the chances for others are much better this year. This year is different. ”
While there are doubts about Nadal’s form, his two closest competitors Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic You will be better prepared. Federer will miss the tournament due to recovering from knee surgery.
Thiem, defeated by Nadal in the last two Roland Garros finals, will feel confident after winning the US Open to finally clinch his first career grand slam, while world number one Djokovic beat Schwartzman in the final. of the Italian Open.
Nadal has outdone Djokovic on clay in recent years, but this time he will have to deal with different conditions due to cooler weather than the usual heat and the addition of night games.
“Diego definitely showed that Rafael can be beaten on clay,” Djokovic said after the Roma final.
“The conditions they played in, obviously heavy clay, not much bounce, wet, night sessions, we’re going to have that in Paris too. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t prefer that to a high bounce. I know. He likes high bounce. rebound.
“He likes warm, hot and fast conditions, where he can use his spin a lot. Let’s see. It’s going to be interesting. Although he’s the favorite, I think there are players who can beat him there.”
