"Rafael Nadal was unlucky" - Novak Djokovic on Spaniard getting eliminated by Alexander Zverev in his last possible French Open outing
Novak Djokovic reflected on Rafael Nadal's early exit after getting the better of Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-4 in the opening round of the 2024 French Open on Tuesday, May 28.
Djokovic observed that Nadal was unlucky with the draw, considering that Alexander Zverev was in great form following his Italian Open triumph. Djokovic said that it would have been tough to play the German given that he was feeling the ball so well.
The Serb also asserted that Nadal could easily have won the second and third sets, in which case the first-round match may have swung in a different direction.
"Even though he lost in straight sets, second and third were really close. He could have easily won one of those two sets, and maybe the match was going in a different direction," the three-time French Open champion stated after his opening-round win.
"But he was a bit unlucky with the draw, because Zverev is in great form, winning Rome, and he was serving extremely well. It's tough to play Sascha when he's feeling the ball so well," he added.
Nadal went down fighting 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 to Zverev in a first-round encounter at Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday. Djokovic also asserted that Nadal played on a much higher level than he did at Rome and Barcelona.
"I think he played very well compared to what we saw from his performance in Rome and Barcelona, I think he played really on a much higher level," the defending champion said.
"We all wanted to get a glimpse of the atmosphere of that possibly unique moment" - Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic also declared that he, along with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek wanted to get a glimpse of the "possibly unique moment" when Rafael Nadal bowed out of what could be his final French Open campaign.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion, however, opined that, given what he saw of Nadal, it did not appear that the Spaniard was playing the tournament for the last time.
"It was great. I saw, you know, Iga (Swiatek) was there, (Carlos) Alcaraz was there. We all wanted to get a glimpse of the atmosphere, of that possibly unique moment, you know, that could be his last," the top-seed stated.
"But it doesn't appear like that,” he added.
Novak Djokovic who will face Roberto Carballes Baena in the next round, is aiming to win his fourth French Open title. The 37-year-old triumphed at Roland Garros in 2016, 2021 and 2023.