It could begin as Pablo Mira’s column ends in Daily: “Until then, we will know nothing more. » Yes, by the final on June 9, perhaps the certainties of the moment will have ended in the basket, false leads of real champions. It is risky to move forward when Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have a coughing engine. The right setting is never far away, as the history of tennis says. The only thing is, even the most beautiful cars don’t last forever and these two never got to Paris so dirty.
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The matter is not trivial: the Spaniard and the Serbian monopolize the last eight lines of the prize list. Room for young people, then, since we have seen them coming? Not that easy. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune, all have a creaky body or result, sometimes both. Moral: this Roland-Garros presents itself as the most open in ages. Since Nadal frequented the place and imposed his standards there (14 titles between 2005 and 2022, 112 victories for 3 defeats). Today, the statue stands but its status is wavering. The injuries have piled up, the ranking no longer means anything (276th tomorrow, 672nd when it resumes in January), and both the physique and the level of play of the Majorcan have become “more unpredictable than ever”.
Big cleaning
However, he has just completed three tournaments in a row, which has not happened to him since the spring of 2022. But the upgrade seen in Madrid was followed by a violent loss in Rome, a 6-1, 6- 3 inflicted by Hubert Hurkacz in the 2nd round, poorly matched with his ten local trophies. “There are a lot of doubts,” he still admits, “a lot of questions. » Nadal will turn 38 on Monday of the second week of Roland-Garros. Given the trap that awaits him, because he is not seeded, we come to wonder if the tradition of blowing candles in the stadium will be respected.
For Djokovic too, all roads are lost in Rome. Two matches, one disappointment: five unfortunate games taken from Alejandro Tabilo (32nd) and mistakes by the load. Ten years since we last saw him so anemic in the Masters 1000, when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gave him 2 and 2 in Toronto. At the Foro Italico, it was a question of restoring an image of almost invincible, he who limited his outings so much to take care of himself (5 tournaments played) that he did not taste a final all year. Instead of taking off for Paris, where he won three times (2016, 2021, 2023), the world number 1 took his head after a water bottle fell on his skull. It was two days before his defeat, experienced “without rhythm, without balance, as if another player had put on [s]are shoes ». It is unknown whether the planned scan was carried out. But we know he saw others.
In recent months, Djokovic, 37 years old on Wednesday, has carried out a major cleaning up in his management. Exit agent, media manager, coach (Goran Ivanisevic) and, most recently, physical trainer. All that remains is to put his metronome game in order. “I have to improve everything, really everything. » A guy who has won 24 Grand Slams is therefore capable of saying that. All the more reason to be wary.
2024-05-19 03:18:00
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