Coach Patrick Mouratoglou believes the upcoming French Open will be the ‘most open’ in recent time as he heaps praise on world No.1 Novak Djokovic.
Mouratoglou, who announced on Thursday that he will be the new mentor to Simona Halep, says this year’s Roland Garros could prove to be decisive in the race for most major titles won by a male player. Currently Rafael Nadal is one ahead of Novak Djokovic with 21 trophies after triumphing at the Australian Open earlier this year. Switzerland’s Roger Federer is also on 20 titles but is absent from the Tour due to a knee injury with his comeback expected later this year.
Speaking in a video published on his Instagram account about the upcoming clay court swing on the men’s Tour, Mouratoglou labeled Djokovic as ‘the best player in the world’ when he is playing at his top level. Even though it is Nadal who has dominated clay in recent years.
“Roland Garros is the most open it has been in the last 10-15 years. If Novak Djokovic is able to win a lot between the start of the clay season and Roland Garros, then it won’t be that open. Because Novak, when he is at his best, even on clay, I think he is the best player in the world,” Mouratoglou said. “I know it’s weird to say that when you see the number of Roland Garros that Rafa has won, but if you look at the figures, Novak beats Rafa many times on clay.”
On the ATP Tour, the two tennis giants have players against each other 27 times on the clay with Nadal winning 19 of those meetings. However, in their 10 most recent meetings on the surface their head-to-head is split to 5-5. In terms of ATP titles won on the clay, Nadal has got more than three times that of his Serbian rival at 62 compared to 17.
The last time the two played each other on the Tour was at the 2021 French Open where Djokovic prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2, in the semi-finals. A triumph Mouratoglou says could play on both players’ minds should they meet again this year.
“If they have to play each other in the last stages of Roland Garros this year, last year’s match will count in their minds 100%,” Mouratoglou said. “Rafa is going to be tense and Novak [Djokovic] will be much more aggressive because he will be more confident going against Rafa.”
Djokovic will return to action next week at the Monte Carlo Masters with questions looming over his current form. The Serbian has only played one tournament this year due to his stance on the Covid-19 vaccination which resulted in him getting deported from Australia following a legal battle and missing events in America.
As for Nadal, he enjoyed a stellar start to 2022 by winning three consecutive titles, as well as reaching the final in Indian Wells. Although he will miss the start of the clay swing after recently sustaining a rib injury.
“Is Novak Djokovic going to win everything until Rafa comes back from his injury? That would be a game changer because then you would have Novak with full, full confidence back,” Mouratoglou said. “But it’s not going to be that easy because when you don’t play matches, like he did last month, where the little he played, he lost early.”
Over the past 20 years Djokovic and Nadal are the only players to have won the men’s French Open on multiple occasions. Djokovic has claimed the title twice compared to Nadal who has won it a historic 13 times.
