Novak Djokovic on 2024 French Open: "Rafael Nadal is always a favorite there, he is who he is in Roland Garros"
Novak Djokovic has stated that Rafael Nadal will always remain the title favorite at the French Open.
Nadal has been troubled by injuries in recent years. After being sidelined for almost the entirety of the 2023 season, he returned to action at the Brisbane International earlier this month.
After beating 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler, he lost to Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals. During his match with Thompson, he took an off-court medical timeout as he felt pain in his left hip, the same area where he had surgery last year.
Later, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the ongoing Australian Open, stating that an MRI found a micro tear in his hip muscle.
On Friday, January 26, Novak Djokovic's 33-match unbeaten streak in Melbourne came to an end when he lost 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. At a press conference later, when asked to preview the next Major, the French Open, the World No. 1 said that it was too early to pick favorites.
"That's really far away. Let's see how, you know, how the players play in the next several months, particularly on the clay, in the clay season. It's completely different surface, conditions. Some players are probably more favorites than others on clay just because it's kind of a surface that suits certain type of tennis players," he said.
Djokovic, however, said that a fit-again Nadal will always remain a front-runner for the title in Paris, given his domination of the tournament. He also said that the top 10 players in the ATP rankings can all be considered title favorites.
"But of course, you know, if Nadal is playing, he's always a favorite there, No. 1, no doubt. Regardless of the fact that he hasn't played much, but he is who he is in Roland Garros. Of course [Carlos] Alcaraz, Sinner. Anybody that is on the top, you know. I think rankings-wise you can take the first five, ten players in the world, and everyone is a favorite to win. It still takes several months, so let's see how everything evolves," he added.
In his 18 appearances at Roland Garros, Nadal has a 112-3 win-loss record and has won the title a record 14 times.
Noval Djokovic: "Jannik Sinner just played a flawless match"
Jannik Sinner's dominant win against Novak Djokovic has become one of the highlights of the 2024 Australian Open.
Sinner secured a double break and served out the first set in just 35 minutes. He showed no signs of relenting in the second set, as a late break saw him take a two-set lead in just one hour and 13 minutes.
Despite seeing a match point saved in the third set tie-break, Sinner stayed focused and continued to have the upper hand. He eventually sealed victory with a beautiful forehand, his 31st winner of the contest.
Djokovic was uncharacteristically error-prone against Sinner, registering 54 unforced errors and not creating a single break point throughout. After the match, the World No. 1 credited the Italian for his flawless performance.
"He was serving very accurately, he was backing his serve very well. There's a lot of negative things that I've done on the court today in terms of my game that I'm not really pleased with in return or movement or forehand, backhand. Everything, you know, was just subpar," Djokovic said.
"He was very dominant. Dominant on his service games. Obviously if you serve well and if you don't face a breakpoint, it plays with the mind of your opponent, meaning you can put more pressure on his service games, my service games in this case, and you kind of swing freely. Congrats to him. He just played a flawless match," he added.
Jannik Sinner will face either third seed Daniil Medvedev or sixth seed Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open final on Sunday, January 28.