FILE - Serbia's Novak Djokovic, left, shakes hands with Spain's Rafael Nadal after their semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Friday, June 11, 2021 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Filer)
PARIS — This French Open is the first Grand Slam tournament in a year with both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the field. And anyone who enjoys men’s tennis — or, indeed, sports — should be thrilled that those two titans of the game will face each other for a record 59th time.
Is it a shame Tuesday night’s match is “only” a quarterfinal, instead of something with more at stake? Perhaps. Will that dissuade anyone from watching from afar or dull the atmosphere that’ll envelop Court Philippe Chatrier? Doubtful.
Could it decrease the intensity of each player’s performance? Not a chance.
“I’m ready for it,” Djokovic said.
“I hope to be able to give myself a chance to play at the highest level possible,” Nadal said, “and then let’s see.”
So then the question that Nadal will have on his mind — and we know so because he said so — and Djokovic might, too, is: How many more of these showdowns are there going to be?
FILE – Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, left, and Spain’s Rafael Nadal look at each other as they pose for images prior to the final match of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
First of all, Nadal turns 36 on Friday; Djokovic turned 35 on May 22, the first day of the French Open.
“I don’t know what can happen in the near future with my career,” Nadal said.
His body has been a big issue over the past 12 months. He missed the last half of last season, including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, because of chronic pain in his left foot that flared up again in recent weeks. After his 20-0 start to 2022, he missed three tournaments because of a rib injury.
“I can’t complain much,” Nadal said, noting that 2 1/2 weeks ago he had no idea whether he’d make it this far.
“Being honest, every match that I play here, I don’t know if it’s going to be my last match here in Roland Garros. … That’s my situation now,” he said after edging 21-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime in five sets Sunday night. “That’s why I am just trying to enjoy as much as possible.”
Auger-Aliassime said Nadal did not appear to be hampered or slowed at all during their fourth-round thriller, which lasted nearly 4 1/2 hours, almost twice as long as Djokovic’s straight-set win Sunday over 15th-seeded Diego Schwartzman.
Djokovic hasn’t dropped a set through four matches.
“He’s Novak,” Schwartzman said, “and if you are not 100% … obviously, the result is like this.”
As for Djokovic, his decision to not get vaccinated against COVID-19 prevented him from participating at the Australian Open and, while he’s been assured that won’t be a problem at Wimbledon when it starts June 27, his status for the U.S. Open is uncertain at the moment.
Whether statistics, aesthetics or any other measures is applied, both are among the greatest there’s ever been. About that there can be no debate.
Both have won every Grand Slam tournament at least twice. Nadal owns a men’s-record 21 Slam titles, a number he reached with a tiebreaking triumph at the Australian Open in January. Djokovic, like Roger Federer, is one behind. Djokovic has all sorts of other bona fides, including more weeks spent at No. 1 in the ATP rankings than anyone else and the only man with at least two trophies from every Masters event. He also leads both Federer and Nadal head to head.
Djokovic and Nadal have played each other more frequently than any other pair of men in the half-century-plus of professional tennis. Djokovic leads 30-28 overall; Nadal leads 19-8 on clay, including 7-2 at Roland Garros. Nadal is 109-3 at the French Open, with a record 13 championships, and two of those three losses came against Djokovic, including in the semifinals a year ago en route to the title.
“Playing him in Roland Garros is always a physical battle,” Djokovic said, “along with everything else.”
This one is such a big deal that it was scheduled for the night session, even though Nadal made it clear he prefers playing daytime matches on clay, and it’s been made available for free to everyone in France via a streaming service under a special arrangement.
Whoever wins will take on third-seeded Alexander Zverev or sixth-seeded Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals. The other men’s quarterfinals are No. 7 Andrey Rublev vs. No. 20 Marin Cilic, and No. 8 Casper Ruud vs. unseeded Holger Rune.
Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spaniard considered the Next Big Thing in men’s tennis, knows a significant match when he sees one coming.
“If I can,” Alcaraz said about Djokovic vs. Nadal, “I will watch it.”
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
PHILADELPHIA – The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley announced that the Evzones, the Presidential Guard of Greece will be participating in the Philadelphia Greek Independence Day Parade on March 20.
O oceanic you sing and sail
White on your body and yellow on your chimeneas
For you're tired of the filthy waters of the harbors
You who loved the distant Sporades
You who lifted the tallest flags
You who sail clear through the most dangerous caves
Hail to you who let yourself be charmed by the sirens
Hail to you for never having been afraid of the Symplegades
(Andreas Empeirikos)
What traveler has not been fascinated by the Greek islands, drawn by the Sirens’ song of a traveler’s dreams?
TNH and our video show ‘Mission’ marked the change of the season by transporting viewers into the heart of summer.
Sign up for a subscription
Want to save this article? Get a subscription to access this feature and more!
To purchase a gift subscription, please log out of your account, and purchase the subscription with a new email ID.
On April 2, 2021, we celebrated The National Herald’s 106th Anniversary. Help us maintain our independent journalism and continue serving Hellenism worldwide.
In order to deliver a more personalized, responsive, and improved experience, we use cookies to remember information about how you use this site. By Continuing to access the website, you agree that we will store data in a cookie as outlined in our Privacy Policy.
We use cookies on our site to personalize your experience, bring you the most relevant content, show you the most useful ads, and to help report any issues with our site. You can update your preferences at any time by visiting preferences. By selecting Accept, you consent to our use of cookies. To learn more about how your data is used, visit our cookie policy.
You’re reading 1 of 3 free articles this month. Get unlimited access to The National Herald. or Log In
You’ve reached your limit of free articles for this month. Get unlimited access to the best in independent Greek journalism starting as low as $1/week.