We couldn’t ask for more. The best player on earth in history against the master of the world of recent years. Nadal-Djokovic, episode 56, is for Sunday afternoon from 3 p.m. on the central court of Roland-Garros. Along with Roger Federer, these two have long defied the laws of understanding. And never stop aligning records …
1. Novak Djokovic has only won Roland-Garro once, in 2016, against Andy Murray. The only Grand Slam that was missing at the time from an already sizeable track record. A year when Nadal, injured in the left wrist, had been forced to forfeit before his third round.
1. If he wins at the Central, the world No. 1 will become the first player in the Open era to win at least twice each Grand Slam lift. The Serbian has already gleaned eight Australian Open, five Wimbledon, three US Open and one Roland Garros.
2. Nadal has only lost twice in… 101 games in Paris! Of the 322 sets he has played since 2005, the Mallorcan has only left 27 on the way. And again none this year, despite two decisive games. Vertiginous. Only Söderling (in 2009) and Djokovic (in 2015) managed to defeat the ogre of the earth in his kingdom.
VIDEO. 2005, Nadal’s first coronation in Paris
12. Nadal never lost in the final Porte d’Auteuil. The 12 times he attended Sunday Mass, he gave absolution to his rivals (Federer four times, Thiem and Djokovic twice, Puerta, Söderling, Ferrer and Wawrinka). He’s never even been pushed to five sets.
20. The Spaniard and the Serbian have Roger Federer’s Grand Slam record in their sights (20 titles). Nadal can match him this Sunday. Djokovic, he has the possibility of returning to two units of the Swiss with the prospect of having other opportunities to overtake him.
29. The two have met 55 times, tennis’s biggest rivalry by number of games. Djokovic leads the way with 29 successes. But it was Nadal who won their last three clashes on clay and who signed a six out of seven at Roland Garros.
37. Djokovic is undefeated “on a regular basis” this season. 37 matches and as many racket victories in hand (including the Australian Open). Only an unfortunate but condemnable ball throw at a linesman got the better of him at the US Open and caused his disqualification in the round of 16 against Carreno-Busta.
124. Nadal has played 126 best of five sets on clay since making his debut on the tour. He won 124… (99 at Roland Garros, 18 in Davis Cup, 2 in Monte-Carlo, Rome and Barcelona and 1 in Stuttgart).
290. This Monday, Djokovic will have spent 290 weeks on the world throne. Only Roger Federer (310) did better. The Belgradois should overtake him next spring. Another record in its thermobag.
144 159 599. In dollars, it is the sum of the Djoker’s earnings on the ATP circuit. Or a small jackpot of around 122 million euros! In this area too, the Serbian is number 1, ahead of Federer (around 110 million) and Nadal (around 103 million euros). Pandemic oblige, the winner of the final will pocket 1.6 million euros (against 2.3 last year). The finalist will leave with 850,500 euros in pocket money.
PODCAST. Novak Djokovic, portrait of a huge champion short of recognition
