THE KINGS OF CLAY
Djokovic, Nadal set to battle
Maybe it’s because Novak Djokovic was only 19 at the time, young and full of bravado.
It’s fascinating to go back and read Djokovic’s declaration on the evening of June 7, 2006, after facing a certain guy by the name of Rafael Nadal in the French Open quarter- finals: “He’s the best on this surface, but he’s not unbeatable. That’s for sure.”
Djokovic, ranked 63rd at the time, had never been that far at a Grand Slam tournament. He hadn’t faced Nadal before, either.
All these years later, their rivalry — the best tennis has to offer these days — gets a 44th instalment Wednesday, exactly in the same place, and under the same circumstances, as it began: Djokovic vs. Nadal in a quarter- final on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros.
No other two men have played each other so many times in the Open era of professional tennis, which began in 1968.
Nadal leads 23- 20 overall, 14- 5 on clay, 9- 3 at Grand Slam tournaments, 6- 0 at the French Open. They haven’t met as early as a quarter- final at any major since that very first encounter.
“Of course I don’t like playing a quarter- final against Novak, that’s for sure,” Nadal said, “and I hope that Novak won’t like playing me in a quarter- final.”
This time, Djokovic is ranked and seeded No. 1, and carrying a 26- match winning streak.
“He’s the best player in the world, without any doubt, today. Very dominant,” Nadal said. “Probably everybody’s with me that probably he is the favourite here.”
Nadal is ranked No. 7, seeded No. 6, but he is No. 1 at the French Open, with a record nine championships and 69 victories in 70 career matches.
“Playing him here, and playing him in any other tournament in the world, is completely different,” said Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in the 2012 and 2014 finals at Roland Garros. The reason this is only a quarter- final is that Nadal’s right wrist injury and appendix surgery last season, plus poor- for- him results this year, dropped him out of the top five in the rankings for the first time in a decade.