Djokovic’s chance to put Nadal out in cold
JOHN McENROE’S description of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as inhabiting the top of tennis’s Mount Everest could hardly be more apt.
Temperatures for the new night sessions at Roland Garros this year have been so frosty that some of the spectators might have felt like they were perched on some Himalayan peak.
Conventional wisdom has it that this will help the 35-year-old Serb when he tackles Nadal in this evening’s French Open quarter-final, a match that is surely among the most significant of their 59 meetings.
Djokovic will have been perfectly happy that Amazon Prime won the tug of war over when this colossal encounter would be staged.
They have bought the rights to French transmission of a late match for the first 10 days. To assuage fears that this would cut out huge swathes of the national audience, the streaming service have offered this match for free to anyone in the host country.
Nadal has already stated that he does not enjoy playing at night in Paris, when the atmosphere is deadened — not in the stands but on the court.
Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya hinted yesterday at his player’s frustration at the programming.
‘I would not speak of lack of respect,’ he said. ‘Here at Roland Garros, Rafa has credit. He has won the tournament 13 times and if he has a request you should listen to him. In the end it’s about business and we understand.’
McEnroe, who will commentate on the match for Eurosport, said: ‘It feels like it’s been unseasonably cool. I don’t ever remember it being this cool here.
‘You would think it would help Novak because obviously Rafa’s balls aren’t jumping up so high and there’s not the same impact and spin. If someone forced me to pick, then I would pick Novak slightly.’
It is worth remembering, however, that the pair met on Court Philippe Chatrier in relatively chilly conditions in the peculiar year of 2020, when the tournament was moved to October due to the pandemic. Nadal crushed his opponent for the loss of just seven games.
This match is beautifully set up because of the dramatic events in Melbourne at the start of the year, which resulted in Nadal having 21 Slams to his rival’s 20.
Djokovic lost his dignity there, and his bearings in the months that followed his deportation due to his unvaccinated status. In the past month, however, he has resumed normal service.
‘With almost anyone else, you’d have thought it would affect them quite a bit,’ said McEnroe of Djokovic’s Australia nightmare. ‘That was horrible, the way that whole thing panned out.
‘Then on top of everything else for him, Rafa goes and wins it, and then everyone’s like, “He’s got to be the guy that wins the most Slams”. So I’m sure that was a tough pill to swallow.
‘Novak knew what he had to do to get to where he wanted to get by now. And he did. That doesn’t mean he’s automatically going to win it by any means, because the way Rafa competes is amazing.’
Nadal is also the master of managing expectations and lessening the pressure on himself. He has prefaced the match by stating that he does not know if it will be his last in Paris, and reminding everyone of his recent injury struggles in Rome.
The raucous evening crowd might yet have some bearing. Djokovic was widely booed on to court for his fourth round, and he may not feel much love this evening. ‘He’s been wanting to be respected at that same level, and that sort of fuels him, but it’s unfair,’ said McEnroe. ‘Rafa and Roger handle themselves so well that it’s hard to get to that level.’
Of course, the winner is not guaranteed to win the title, especially with 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz still in their half. This afternoon, the game’s outstanding young talent will meet Alex Zverev in the day’s other quarter-final. Unlike Nadal and Djokovic, the clock is not running down on Alcaraz to win the sport’s biggest prizes. TV: Djokovic v Nadal LIVE on Eurosport, not before 7.45pm.