[ad_1]
Men’s tennis finally landed a new Grand Slam champion in New York last month when Dominic Thiem, a 20-year-old Austrian, won the US Open.
Less than a month later, the youth revolution is once again stagnant at Roland Garros.
The move has yet to change Rafael Nadal, 34, and Novak Djokovic, 33, who will meet in the men’s final at Sunday’s French Open.
That’s a killer for younger squad like Stefanos Tsitsipas, who arrived in Paris last month with renewed hope that the men’s game could add a second active Grand Slam champion under the age of 30.
But even after all these years, Nadal against Djokovic remains a topic of conversation, and Nadal, who skipped the US Open, and Djokovic, who was sent off, will now play for the 56th time.
No other man has played more frequently at the tour level in the Open era. Djokovic has a 29-26 lead and has beaten Nadal in his last three Grand Slam matches.
Sunday’s game could be quite a stir. Whatever the outcome, it will be one of your most important matches.
Records are at stake, including the record for individual Grand Slam titles, which has gradually come to carry the greatest weight in the sport.
If Nadal wins, he will equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 men’s titles. If Djokovic wins, he will move close to 18, making this the rare occasion that avid Federer fans are simply cheering for Djokovic.
“This match is huge, one of the most important,” said Paul Annacone, who has coached Federer and Pete Sampras. “My most important key is how Novak is going to be mentally. He’s been a bit nervous in the last few games, and that’s not a great place to be if you’re playing Rafa.
“But I also think Rafa has to adjust his game this time more than Novak,” he said. “If Rafa plays like a normal Rafa, it will be a war, but I think Novak is too comfortable in those normal patterns.”
Rod Laver, the great Australian southpaw who won 11 major titles in the 1960s, has said he wasn’t even keeping track of his total. But those titles have become the currency of today’s star realm.
In this era, unlike Laver or Bjorn Borg, players rarely skip one of the four major tournaments, which have prospered to such an extent in the last 30 years that they cast an even longer shadow over the regular tour.
Consider the women’s game, in which Serena Williams has won 73 tour singles titles, compared to 167 for Martina Navratilova and 157 for Chris Evert. the choice of many observers as the best player in history.
Nadal and Djokovic, like Federer, have barely shied away from the regular men’s tour, traveling between continents and playing in most Masters 1000 events. But the big ones are still the showcases where they reach the largest audience. Several factors have played a role in the Big Three’s loot hoarding: their tennis genius; advancements in nutrition and recovery; your inner drive and your desire to keep up; and the homogenization of surface speeds, which makes it easier for the best to succeed in more places.
Nadal has kept the record chase at a distance, partly because of his warm relationship with Federer and partly because he is so determined to stay in it now. Djokovic, however, is pleased to state that the Grand Slam record is one of his main goals.
“It tells you about their personalities, more than anything,” Annacone said. “Rafa operates with doubts. Create self-doubt to motivate yourself. Novak has no qualms about exposing it. He wants to be more accomplished than Roger and Rafa and, I think, show everyone who hasn’t really jumped on the train: ‘Look, I’m better than them. And I’ve beaten them at my best for over a decade, so I’m the best. ‘
Nadal has built his Grand Slam work largely at Roland Garros, where he has won 12 titles and compiled a 99-2 record since making his successful debut at age 19 in clams and tank top in 2005..
Djokovic is the only active player to have beaten Nadal at the French Open. Robin Soderling, the powerful Swede who in 2009 was the first to manage it, is retired.
Djokovic’s victory came in straight sets in the quarterfinals in 2015, which many saw as a changing of the guard on clay. It hasn’t worked out that way, at least not yet.
Stan Wawrinka upset him in the final of that year’s French Open, and although Djokovic eventually won his first Roland Garros title in 2016, he soon took a nosedive.
Since resurfacing as the game’s dominant player, he has yet to win a second French Open, while Nadal has kept the trophy, the Coupe des Mousquetaires, under lock and key, winning in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
But Djokovic, now clearly the second best clay player of the Nadal era, ahead of Federer, is quite capable of opening the safe.
This had the potential to be Djokovic’s best season were it not for the coronavirus pandemic that halted play for five months and were it not for a lapse of judgment at the US Open. At the end of the first set of his fourth-round match in New York against Pablo Carreño Busta, Djokovic lost his serve and hit a ball in frustration, hitting a linesman in the throat.
He was disqualified for his only loss in 2020. He is 37-1 this year and 11-0 on clay after winning the Italian Open and proving his train wreck in New York wouldn’t derail him for long.
After beating Federer on his beloved turf last year in a five-set final at Wimbledon, Djokovic now has a chance to beat Nadal on Nadal’s happiest hunting ground in a major final.
The forecast is for high humidity and temperatures in the 50s, heavy, low-rebound conditions that, in theory, favor Djokovic.
Unlike Nadal, he is not dependent on topspin. Djokovic generally stays close to the baseline and has shown that he can counter Nadal’s forehand by hitting the ball effectively right after it hits the clay. But the lower rebound should make it easier for him to defend and come back, which are already two of his strengths, particularly with his two-handed backhand.
Annacone and others believe that Nadal will have to take more risks than usual and hit the line more often to get his best shot. It will also be important to generate a constant depth.
But this is also a mental duel. Nadal knows that Djokovic is perhaps the only man who can beat him on clay even if Nadal is having one of his best days.
Djokovic knows it too.
