When was the last time Rafael Nadal entered the French Open with an air of uncertainty around his first-round victory, no matter the form and ranking of his opponent (which, in this case, is world No. 4 Italian Open champion Alexander Zverev)? When was the last time Novak Djokovic entered any Grand Slam with his aura of indomitability breached to the extent that it has brought him down to among the pack of contenders rather than a potentially title-winning ace?
Not in the last few years at the Slams he was allowed to set foot in.
The two ageing giants, with 46 Grand Slam triumphs between them yet zero titles this season, find themselves with an unfamiliar tag in this Parisian summer — far from the favourites for the French Open. Which, for a 14-time Roland Garros champion who has held an unshakable grip on the clay-court Slam he first won in 2005 and lost just three matches in, is unheard-of. Which, for the record 24-time Slam champion who has won three of the previous five majors besides reaching a final and a semi-final, is unwonted.
We’ll get to Nadal first, because this may well be his last sighting at the French Open. The 37-year-old hasn’t explicitly conveyed it yet, but everything he has done this season, which he’d said could be his last on the tour, has a farewell ring to it. Swansong or not, things haven’t gone per script for the Spaniard. Out injured for most of 2023 and the first three months of 2024 due to a muscle injury post his return, Nadal threw all his eggs in the clay basket.
Barcelona (second round exit) was an early gentle tester, Madrid (Round of 16) was a slightly more feel-good outing but Rome, where he was given a three-set scare by unheralded Zizou Bergs before a straight-sets hiding by 8th-ranked Hubert Hurkacz, was a wake-up call. One that confined him to the reality that his current physical shape and level of play, though good enough to still test the best on clay, isn’t nearly enough to trouble them.
It made Nadal doubt whether turning up for the French Open, a tournament he’s played every year since 2005 except the last, was even worth it. “If I feel ready, I’m going to try to be there and fight for the things that I have been fighting the last 15 years; (even) if now (it) seems impossible,” he said in Rome.
Nadal will have to summon every bit of that fight while taking on Rome champion Zverev first up in a brutal draw for the bruised beast. If not, the fourth (and likely final) defeat on the red dirt of Paris could bring a speedy end to a surreal record that may last for an eternity.
Djokovic’s 24 majors tally too will stand the test of time, although times right now are shaky for the Serb. Not in six years, since his injury-hit 2018 season, has Djokovic entered the French Open without a title to his name in the season. If the Australian Open semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner was hard to take, the subsequent shock losses to 123rd-ranked Lucas Nardi (Indian Wells) and 32nd-ranked Alejandro Tabilo (Rome) were hard to explain.
There’s been an abrupt and alarming drop in the world No. 1’s form, taking down his coach Goran Ivanisevic and fitness trainer along with it as Djokovic desperately searches for a spark to light things up again.
He celebrated his 37th birthday on Wednesday playing (and winning) at the Geneva Open, a rare instance of Djokovic competing the week before a Slam. “I need more matches, even if it’s just one or two…I hope there are more,” he said.
Come the French Open, he’d hope for the same.
Source: HT
Tag: Djokovic
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Nadal, Djokovic and an unfamiliar tag at the French Open
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Sinner ends 10-time champion Djokovic’s Australian Open streak
Melbourne (TIP)- Jannik Sinner ended one of Novak Djokovic’s perfect streaks in an Australian Open upset and then got to relax while Daniil Medvedev rallied from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev after midnight to secure the other place in the final.
For a self-described tennis fan, just everything went Sinner’s way in the semifinals on Friday.
The 22-year-old Italian broke Djokovic’s serve twice in each of the first two sets in a surprisingly lopsided 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory that ended the 10-time champion’s unbeaten streak in semifinals at Rod Laver Arena.
Almost an hour after missing a match point in the tiebreaker, Sinner converted his second to complete his third win in four head-to-heads since losing to Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon semifinals.
“I learned a lot from that,” he said of that Wimbledon loss and his subsequent wins. “It gives you a better feeling when you know that you can beat one player.
“The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief.” Third-seeded Medvedev appeared down and out after two sets, and was two points from losing in the fourth, but rallied to beat Zverev 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3 after 4 hours, 18 minutes. “I was a little bit lost, but during the third set I started saying If I lose this match, I just want to be proud of myself,’” said Medvedev, who has lost two finals in Australia, including one from two sets up. “I’m proud of myself.”
Zverev’s run drew attention on and off the court after news emerged that a German court set a trial date in May over an assault allegation dating to 2020. The Olympic gold medalist has denied the accusations since last July when details of the case became public.
After winning the first two sets, Zverev got within a couple of swings of the racket of making a second Grand Slam final. Instead it will be Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion whose run here included a grueling second-round win that finished at almost 4 in the morning, who will be aiming for a second major title. Sinner will be the youngest player to contest the men’s final in Australia since Djokovic won the first of his 10 titles here in 2008.
A record-extending 11th Australian and 25th major title overall will have to wait for Djokovic.
He hadn’t lost a match at Melbourne Park since a fourth-round exit in 2018, had never lost after reaching the final four, and was on a 33-match winning streak at the season’s first major.
Source: AP -
Wimbledon ban on Russians, Belarusians crazy: Djokovic
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic said Wimbledon’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is “crazy”. Wimbledon announced on Wednesday that it had barred all Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s championships due to the invasion, which Russia calls a “special operation”.
The grasscourt Grand Slam is the first tennis tournament to ban individual competitors from the two countries, meaning men’s world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev from Russia and women’s fourth-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will be banned from the June 27-July 10 tournament. Djokovic, who grew up in war-torn Serbia, said the athletes had nothing to do with the ongoing conflict. “I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war,” Djokovic said. “I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans we have had many wars in recent history. However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good.” The All England Lawn Tennis Club’s (AELTC) decision has been criticised by the ATP and WTA tours. The move is the first time players have been banned on the grounds of nationality since the immediate post-World War Two era when German and Japanese players were excluded.
Source: Reuters
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Djokovic fights off Berrettini to set up Nadal semi-final
Paris (TIP): A fired-up Novak Djokovic repelled a stirring fightback by Italian Matteo Berrettini to claim a 6-3 6-2 6-7(5) 7-5 victory on Wednesday to set up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown with defending champion Rafael Nadal.
The 34-year-old bellowed a series of frightening roars after completing a victory that at one stage looked like a formality but became increasingly fraught as Berrettini threw the kitchen sink at the Serb who becomes only the second man to reach 40 Grand Slam semi-finals after Roger Federer.
It was a spectacular conclusion to a match that was watched by 5,000 fans until midway through the fourth set when Paris’s Covid-19 curfew meant the crowd were obliged to leave. Djokovic led 3-2 at the time and when battle resumed he suffered a nasty fall, grazing his hand, but sensed his chance when Berrettini served at 5-6.
The Italian ninth seed, saved a couple of match points, the second with a sizzling forehand winner, after which Djokovic screamed angrily at his entourage and kicked an advertising board in disgust. He got the job done at the third time of asking when Berrettini netted at the end of another high-octane baseline exchange. Djokovic, eyes bulging, then roared again towards his box, the sound echoing around an empty Court Philippe Chatrier.
It was a manic ending and showed exactly how much Djokovic wants a second French Open title, having claimed his first in 2016 to complete his career Slam. Since then, Nadal has been unbeatable on the Parisian dirt, extending his record total to 13 titles and counting, the last coming last October when he thrashed Djokovic in the final.
Djokovic said booking another clash with Nadal had not been behind his extraordinary reaction at the end. “This match had it all: falls, crowd, break,” he told reporters. “It was a lot of intensity. I just felt under tension the entire time and missed some chances to end it in three. “It was just super, super stressful to constantly be under pressure… the reaction in the end was just me liberating that tension that was building up for the entire match.”
Top seed Djokovic was given a mighty scare against Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti on Monday, losing the first two sets, before steamrolling to victory. It was much more straightforward, initially, against Berrettini as he broke for a 3-1 lead in the first set.