Paris: Rafael Nadal, the king of the clay courts and Novak
Djokovic, the Serbian number one player who has had come close to content the
two of the greatest players in modern tennis era, will lock horns on Sunday for
the French Open title. During the semi-finals held on Friday, Rafael Nadal
faced Diego Schwartzman, who holds the 12th rank in the men’s tennis
rankings. Nadal soundly handed a defeated to Schwartzman winning in straight
sets and Nadal never looked better. The 34-year old showed no signs of fatigue
or exhaustion coming into the semi-finals not dropping a single set this year
to any of his opponents in the tournament this year. If Nadal claims the title
on Sunday, he will further cement his position as the king of clay courts.
Nadal has won 12 French Open titles which is a record neither his immediate
rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic could achieve.
On the other hand, Djokovic suffered neck and hand stiffness
during the quarter-finals against Carreno Busta. But, the Serbian managed to
bag a win to play the semi-finals against the Greek No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
There were no signs of any muscle stiffness on Friday when Djokovic played
Tsitsipas but the Greek gave a tough competition for Djokovic who at one time
looked surely to win the match with straight sets but was forced to play three
more sets.
As Nadal faces Djokovic in the finals, their fortunes are
sharply contrasting in their run to the finals with Nadal dominating the opponents
in his familiar breeding ground but Djokovic displayed his nerves of steel time
and time again when the inexperienced younger players showed grit and provided
a stiff competition. Nadal is the favourite to win on Sunday but winning in
straight sets is something he could not hope as Djokovic immensely thrives
under pressure and there is no greater pressure than playing Rafael Nadal at
Roland Garros.
