Novak Djokovic, the world’s top tennis player, admits part of himself will leave as career rival Rafael Nadal plans to retire next year.
Djokovic, who shares the record for 22 Grand Slam titles with Nadal, has the chance to break that record by winning the French Open for the third time.
Nadal, a 14-times champion in Paris, missed Roland Garros with a hip injury. Ahead of his 37th birthday, the Spaniard has said 2024 will likely be his last year on tour.
“When he (Nadal) announced he was going to have the last season of his career, I felt a part of me going with him too,” he said, quoted Between from AFPSunday (28/5/2023).
“It got me thinking about my career and how long I’m going to play. I’m not going to make any announcements today, but just reflecting on it. I also felt a little emotional about what he said,” added Djokovic.
For your information, Djokovic holds the advantage of winning and losing 30-29 over Nadal. However, the Spanish star has been very strong at Roland Garros with eight wins in the 10 meetings between them.
“I didn’t like seeing him in the Roland Garros draw, to be honest. I didn’t have much success fighting it deep head-to-head we. I managed to beat him twice, but I had to leave my heart and guts out on the court to achieve that,” he reveals.
If Djokovic wins the 2023 French Open, he will not only break the Grand Slam record in the men’s sector, but will also be level with Serena Williams, and will be just one major tournament win from Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slams.
“It’s no secret that one of the main reasons I play today and compete in professional tennis is to try to break more records and make more history in tennis,” said Djokovic.
Despite his two Roland Garros titles (2016 and 2021), Djokovic agrees that world number one Carlos Alcaraz is currently the favorite for the Paris title, adding to his major at the US Open.
The 20-year-old Spaniard has won titles on clay in Buenos Aires, Madrid and Barcelona this season.
In comparison, Djokovic failed to get past the last eight in any of his clay tournaments, hampered by an elbow injury.
“He is Number 1 in the world, and he is a player who has won big titles on clay this season. So at the moment he is the biggest favorite despite the fact that he has one Grand Slam and I have 22,” said Djokovic.
Previously, Djokovic and Alcaraz were the favorites to meet in the semifinals of the French Open which started Sunday. Alcaraz will start his fight at Roland Garros against Flavio Cobolli, world number 159 from Italy.
Meanwhile, Djokovic will face Aleksandar Kovacevic, ranked 114th from the US. (ant/bil/rid)
