A Djokovic under suspicion is tested with Tsitsipas in the semifinals

“It is the greatest challenge in tennis and one of the most difficult in sport.” It is a sentence that he has also said this time in Paris Novak Djokovic, along with Robin Soderling those who can say they have been able to Rafa Nadal, surely not in its fullness since in 2009 he suffered from the knees and in 2015 he came out of what he called a “mental injury”, a mental low.

‘Nole’, 33 years old and world No. 1, will hit the track Philippe Chatrier knowing which rival awaits in the final on Sunday, at 3:00 p.m., if the twelve-time champion or, it would be a huge surprise, the Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

The Serbian will have an eye on the first semifinal, which begins at 2:50 p.m. on Friday, knowing that his commitment will not begin in any case before 5:00 p.m. Although he cannot get too confused because in his tenth appearance in the penultimate round of Roland Garros he has an important rival, the current ‘maestro’ (he won the 2019 ATP Finals) Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, 22 years old and nº 6.

Nadal is aiming for 20 Grand Slam titles, equaling Roger Federer’s record. But Novak Djokovic is also targeting that race, although he comes from further behind. He failed with his disqualification at the US Open, but he is still in the bid for a personal eighteenth ‘big’, a second Roland Garros, after 2016, which would make him the third tennis player (after Laver and Emerson), capable of having two or more trophies of each ‘big’.

He sowed doubts about his physical condition, complaining about his shoulder and neck, signing a strange start of the quarter Pablo Carreñobut he reacted, as usual, to add his 36th win out of 37 games this season. “It always does, or it’s chronic and it really hurts or it’s mental. When he feels tight, he asks for medical assistance ”, explained the Asturian about the behavior of the Serbian, who did defend his physical discomfort. “A few hours before I did not know if I could play,” he stressed.

On Thursday he did the usual work of preparing for a meeting, Serbian media reported. It is the sixth against Tsitsipas, whom he dominates 3-2, including the previous one on clay, the Madrid 2019 final (6-3 and 6-4). This season, victory for the Balkan in the final in Dubai, also 6-3 and 6-4.

Tsitsipas has the experience of the semifinal of the Open de Australia 2019, in which he was swept by Rafa Nadal.