ŠPORT.sk
today 11:11
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The Paris tennis courts at Roland Garros experienced another part of the Titans duel on Friday night. This time Novak Djokovic managed to defeat Rafael Nadal on his favorite surface 3: 6, 6: 3, 7: 6 (4), 6: 2. For Spain, it was only the third failure in a clay grand slam tournament in the last 16 years and in 108 matches.
The highest-ranked Serb thus lacks the last step to become the first player to win all grand slam tournaments at least twice in 50 years. Djokovic has already triumphed at Roland Garros in 2016. His final hurdle will be Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who will make his debut in the finals of the Big Four tournaments.
“Meeting Rafael today in such an amazing match was a privilege for me. It was my biggest victory here in Paris,” declared according to AFP Djokovic, who has already defeated Nadal in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros 2015 and on Friday he started the 58th mutual match against Mallorcan.
They met nine times at the clay courts in Paris and the Serb pulled for a shorter end seven times, including the final fights in 2012, 2014 and 2020. “Every time I go on the court against him, it’s like climbing Mount Everest. I definitely place this match in the top three of my career. I played against my biggest rival on the surface, which has dominated the past 15 years. Let’s add the quality of tennis and the electrifying atmosphere , in short, amazing, “ Djokovic shouted with joy after the meeting.
Of course, the 35-year-old Spaniard could not be satisfied. “It was probably not my best day today, even though I was fighting. I had a chance, some exchanges were crazy and my fatigue decided a bit,” Nadal admitted.
The defending champion and the 13-time champion recorded 55 unforced errors. “We played during a lot of heat. The balls bounced more slowly and had less top rotation. That suited him better.” he searched for Nadal’s causes of failure.
Djokovic improved the mutual match balance to 30:28 with his victory in his favor. So far, Nadal still has 20 titles in his collection and has failed to become the oldest finalist of the modern era Roland Garros at the age of 35.
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Author:
ŠPORT.sk |Source: TASR
|Photo: SITA/AP
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