"Saddened you put money before Rafa, the player who has made your tournament" - Tennis fans react as Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic QF scheduled for night session
Tennis fans waiting for the announcement of the timing for the quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the 2022 French Open finally have an answer. The highly-anticipated clash between the tennis titans will take place during the night session on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Tuesday. 'Advantage: Djokovic' is what the sentiment is from most fans.
Nadal and Djokovic both recently spoke about when they wanted the match to take place. The Spaniard prefers the day session as the heat helps make his topspin-heavy groundstrokes even more lethal. The Serb, on the other hand, favors the cooler night session.
Tennis fans took to social media to express their thoughts on the scheduling of the match and picked their favorite to win Chapter 59 of the epic rivalry.
"Saddened you put money before Rafa, the player who has made your tournament. Making it a night game favours Djokovic. These night games are awful. So cold! Too busy between day and night. Too late to travel on metro afterwards. So it's all about money rather than tennis," one fan expressed.
twitter.com/rolandgarros/s…
Saddened you put money before the player who has made your tournament @RafaelNadal Making it a night game favours Djokovic. These night games are awful. So cold! Too busy between day and night. Too late to travel on metro afterwards. So it's all about money rather than tennis. 😔 twitter.com/rolandgarros/s…
"Why do that to your 13 time champion RG?" said another fan, adding, "He (Djokovic) has 2 days off anyway. And he plays better in the day. At night the ball is slower and heavier. It's a total advantage for Djoker.
@TennisPodcast Why do that to your 13 time champion RG?.
@bucslakersbolts @TennisPodcast He has 2 days off anyway. And he plays better in the day. At night the ball is slower and heavier. It's a total advantage for Djoker.
"The Nadal-Djokovic at night. If Nadal did not have enough with his physique and his foot, now they put him in the hour that clearly harms him. If in case of doubt it was clear that they were not going to help him. They just need to put the game at 12 at night (translated)," another account wrote.
El Nadal-Djokovic de noche. Si no tenÃa bastante Nadal con su fÃsico y su pie, ahora le meten en la hora q le perjudica claramente. Si en caso de duda estaba claro q no le iban a ayudar. Sólo les falto poner el partido a las 12 de la noche...
Another fan even went on to make a prediction for the match, terming top seed Djokovic a comfortable winner, although he feels Nadal will fight hard.
@TennisPodcast Course it is. Djokovic in straight sets.
But everyone will always know Nadal at his best always beats Djokovic at RG.
@Rafan2500 @scambers73 Djokovic played a tough five setter against Tsitsipas in the SF and Did not show up in the Final at all..He woke up just in the 3rd set, but it was too late..He is Fresh and Peaking right now..Defeated Nadal Last year under same conditions..The court just behaves like a Slow HC..
At the same time, some fans believe that the 13-time Roland Garros champion is the one who has nothing to lose this time around. Djokovic is the defending champion and the favorite going into the tournament this year and they feel there is more pressure on the Serb to win.
In terms of current form, Novak is the favorite. He’s in a great shape and has a lot of confidence.
Yet this tournament is different, and playing Rafa there is the most difficult thing to do so he’ll have his chances no matter who he plays.
No pressure at all on Rafa 💪
@Nina201710 @josemorgado I am glad it's the night session. Now Nole is under pressure. Rafa has nothing to lose. Rafa will win this. I am confident.
Despite the schedule not being in the World No. 5's favour, he is still the "man to beat" at the French Open, regardless of who his opponent is, according to other fans.
While Djokovic won their semifinal match last year (which was played at night), Nadal leads their Roland Garros head-to-head 7-2. The Spaniard has lost only thrice at Roland Garros, with two of them at the hands of Djokovic.
1) until they change the actual court surface, conditions of any RG match are hugely advantageous for Rafa
2) the entire 2020 FO was basically played in Antarctica and he won the title w/o losing a set, including 60, 62, 75 vs. Djokovic
I wouldn’t write his epitaph just yet.
@josemorgado Should give Rafa the incentive to go all out and play ultra agressive tennis, break Novak’s defensive barriers. Staying positive because everyone said Rafa needed to win the 1st set vs Medvedev at the AO final, yet he played his best tennis late at night
Every match that I play could be my last match here in Roland Garros: Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal has has been playing with a foot injury for almost two decades. The 21-time Major winner aggravated the same problem in the build-up to the French Open.
As such, the Spaniard said he feels fortunate to have made it to the quarterfinals in Paris. He also revealed that any match could be his last at Roland Garros at this point in his career.
"Two weeks and a half ago, even if I had good hopes after, positive hopes after Rome, I even don't know if I would be able to be here," he said after his fourth-round win.
"So just enjoying the fact that I am here for one more year. And being honest, every match that I play here, I don't know if gonna be my last match here in Roland Garros in my tennis career, no? That's my situation now," he added.
IT. IS. ON. 
🚨 IT. IS. ON. 🚨
Nadal vs Djokovic: Episode 59 incoming!
@RafaelNadal @DjokerNole #RolandGarros https://t.co/YY73DMjiIl
The quarterfinal clash against Djokovic will be a tough mountain to climb for the Spaniard. He will need to recover quickly for his match on Tuesday after spending over four hours on court against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last 16.