PARIS – Is it the last season, is it the last episode? Not to be ruled out. The 60th match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic comes in an unusual situation, a second round, and with both in very different situations: while the Serb spent part of Sunday relaxing and watching his country’s volleyball team, the Spaniard struggled to win just enough and then admits he doesn’t know if he will be able to deliver the level he needs to on Monday.
‘I’m cautious, I don’t know at what level I can be competitive. I don’t know what level I can play at. I’m going to try to do my best to really create problems for him,’ said the Spaniard, who won 29 of 59 matches against the Serb.
‘It’s a little bit uncertain what’s going to happen,’ he insisted ahead of the Olympic showdown.
It would not be surprising if Nadal’s big highlight at Paris 2024 actually came before the competition, if the best memory he takes away from his fourth Olympics is the fact that he received the Olympic fire from Zinedine Zidane and paraded triumphantly and proudly with it.
That image, Nadal as the star of the opening ceremony, did not go unnoticed by Djokovic.
‘As a tennis player I felt very proud that a tennis player receives that kind of recognition,’ said the Serb, who was then taken aback by a question from CLAY: if Nadal paraded in Paris thanks to the 14 Roland Garros he won, does Djokovic aspire to do the same in Brisbane 2032 after his ten titles (or more) at the Australian Open?
‘That’s a question I didn’t expect,’ admitted the Serb, who joked that by then, at 45, he will still be active. ‘I’m going to keep playing!
The truth is that neither Djokovic nor Nadal has won a title so far this season, something unprecedented. Djokivic comes from playing no less than the final of Wimbledon a few weeks after having knee surgery, while Nadal’s main achievement was Bastad, a minor tournament that served to add rhythm to his game.
Beyond the circumstances, Djokovic is convinced of something: ‘Playing with Nadal here is playing a final.
And the most immediate memory is not positive for the Serb, who will undoubtedly remember 31 May 2022, one of the most bitter moments of his career.
It was in the quarterfinals of that Roland Garros, Nadal had won the Australian Open in January, but arrived with serious physical doubts to the match with Djokovic.
What we saw was a masterful tactical lesson from Nadal, who put all his heart and head into every shot to drive the Serb tennis mad. With the very important collaboration of the public, who were so eager to see Nadal win and Djokovic fall, that they happily celebrated his double faults.
Of course, the context was very different from today: that Djokovic had just come from an unprecedented scandal, expelled from Australia in January after showing a positive covid certificate that did not convince the authorities. Nadal won that Australian Open that Djokovic could not play, the 21st of his 22 Grand Slam titles.
And when Djokovic says, as he did on Saturday, that a match at Roland Garros against Nadal is a final, he knows what he is saying. Of the 59 times they have played since 2006, 28 have been finals, including nine Grand Slam finals, with the Spaniard holding a 5-4 advantage. But this time, Djokovic also knows, the favourite isn’t Nadal, beyond the fact that the match will be played on a stage that is the closest thing to the Spaniard’s home away from home.
