PARIS —
Rafael Nadal and
Novak Djokovic will set their
sights on more Grand Slam history at Roland Garros as the French Open embraces
a new and eerily empty era of night time tennis.
اضافة اعلان
A 14th title in Paris for Nadal would take him to a
record-setting 21st major, surpassing the mark he shares with Roger Federer who
has already written off his hopes of adding to his lone success in the French
capital back in 2009.
Djokovic, the champion in 2016, can move to 19 Grand Slam titles
with victory.
That would make the world number one the first man in over
half a century to win all four majors on multiple occasions.
Nadal arrives in Paris buoyed by having defeated Djokovic in
the Rome Masters final in what was the pair’s 57th meeting.
It was Nadal’s 10th title in the Italian capital.
Not that he was reading too much into the statistics as far
as Roland Garros is concerned.
“I think I can work on a couple of things that I can do a
little bit better,” he insisted.
‘Work right way’
“I just need to keep going. I know what I need to work on
and I’m going to do it. Work, relax mentally, and work the right way.”
At last year’s delayed Roland Garros, Nadal swept past
Djokovic in straight sets in the final.
It was Nadal’s 100th win at the tournament against just two
losses since his 2005 title-winning debut.
Giving Djokovic hope, however, is the knowledge that he was
responsible for one of those losses, in the 2015 quarter-finals.
He is also a four-time runner-up although three of those defeats
in the championship match came against the Spaniard.
Only two men have previously managed to win all four of the
Slams on more than one occasion -- Roy Emerson and Rod Laver of Australia.
Laver’s achievement came back in 1969.
“I think I have a good chance to go all the way in Paris,
but of course it’s a long shot,” said Djokovic who captured the season’s first
Grand Slam title in Australia for a ninth time in February.
Federer, with his 40th birthday fast approaching, remains the
sentimental favorite but his priority will be an assault on Wimbledon where he
has been champion eight times.
Chasing pack
“I’m not so sure in the last 50 years of the French Open,
somebody just rocks up at nearly 40 years old, being out for a year and a half,
and wins everything straight,” said Federer after losing his only clay court
match this year in Geneva last week.
Of the chasing pack, two-time runner-up Dominic Thiem is low
on form and confidence.
A run to the Madrid semi-finals was followed by a straight
sets defeat to Cameron Norrie in his Lyon opener.
World number two Daniil Medvedev has yet to win a match at
Roland Garros in four attempts.
In Rome, he fell at the first hurdle and half-jokingly
pleaded with the referee to disqualify him such is his dislike for clay.
World number five Stefanos Tsitsipas is the most likely man
to upset the odds of Nadal and Djokovic again making the final.
The 22-year-old Greek won the prestigious Monte Carlo clay
court title in April, had match point before losing the Barcelona final to
Nadal and then lifted the Lyon trophy.
He has beaten Nadal on clay in Madrid in 2019 and stretched
Djokovic to five sets at the 2020 French Open semi-finals.
This year’s Roland Garros will be the second taking place
under the shadow of the coronavirus.
Just over 5,000 fans a day will be allowed on site until
June 9 when that figure rises to 13,000.
For the first time this year, there will be nine evening
sessions at the tournament.
However, a
COVID-19 curfew from 9pm means that eight of
those sessions will be played out inside an empty Court Philippe Chatrier.
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