Novak Djokovic believes the world of tennis will be affected by the possibility of Rafael Nadal not playing the French Open but should such a scenario occur it will have no impact on his approach to the tournament.
Nadal, who has played Djokovic an incredible 59 times on the Tour so far in his career, has been absent from the sport since his second round loss at the Australian Open in January. The Spaniard has been hampered by a leg injury which originally only meant to have sidelined him for around eight weeks. Announcing his withdrawal from the Italian Open in Rome last week, he said in a statement that there has been ‘an improvement’ in his form but he was still not ready to compete on the Tour.
It is now a race against time for Nadal to be fit for the French Open which will get underway at the end of this month. He is the most successful player in the history of the tournament with a record 14 titles to his name and an overall win-loss of 112-3.
The only person to have ever achieved multiple wins over Nadal at Roland Garros is Djokovic who has also been hindered by injury in recent weeks due to an elbow problem. The Serbian returns to action this week in Rome where he is aiming to generate some momentum ahead of the next Grand Slam.
“It’s all good. I mean, there’s always some things here and there that bother you on this level. It’s normal. Also when you’re not 25 any more, I guess you experience that a bit more than what used to be the case,” Djokovic said of his fitness during his pre-tournament press conference on Thursday.
“I feel good. I miss competition. I love playing in Rome. Historically throughout my career, Rome has always been a very nice tournament for me, I had plenty of success and won it many times. It’s my most successful clay court event and the biggest one coming into the French Open.” He added.
On paper, Nadal is set to be one of Djokovic’s biggest rivals in Paris given his record at the tournament. Although the possibility of the Spaniard potentially missing the tournament due to injury is something the world No.1 says will have no impact on his mindset heading into the event.
“It won’t change anything in relation to my preparation. I’m looking to be performing the best that I can perform myself,” Djokovic states.
“Of course, the world of tennis and the Roland Garros tournament will be affected by his (Nadal’s) absence from the tournament because of his history in that tournament and generally what he has achieved in his career.’
“I would like to see him play because I think for the competition, it is the best if you can have the best players in the world so the challenge is as big as it can be.”
Another contender for French Open glory is Carlos Alcaraz who has already won four titles on the Tour this season, including two Masters 1000 events. The 20-year-old will return to world No.1 next week as a result of competing at the Italian Open where he isn’t defending any points. In contrast to Djokovic who is the defending champion and therefore can’t improve on his points tally.
Rome is the first tournament this season where both Djokovic and Alcaraz are in the same draw. They have only played each other once before which was at the 2022 Madrid Open where the Spaniard prevailed in three tight sets.
“He’s been playing some very impressive tennis, at a great level. He’s the player to beat on this surface, no doubt,” Djokovic said of Alcaraz.
“Of course, it depends if Nadal is going to play in the French Open or not. But Alcaraz is one of the top favourites without any dilemma. He’s been playing fantastic tennis.”
Djokovic won the French Open in 2016 and 2021. This year’s tournament will start on May 22nd.
