Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are about to face off for the 56th times in their fantastic career in the Roland Garros final. Rafa is the favorite to win the contest, but he needs to beat one of his toughest opponents and very different conditions.

Nadal’s coach and the actual French Open

Carlos Moya has been partnering with Nadal since 2016 after a small stint with Milos Raonic. During a recent interview, Carlos stressed how important it is for Rafa to adapt to new situations. Usually, the Roland Garros is played at the beginning of the European summer when the conditions are not as heavy as the current ones in October. When he plays in May or June, the King of Clay can rely on his wicked topspin to generate high balls. However, things are different now and Nadal needs to be more aggressive if he wants to win. Rafa was extremely vocal against the conditions and he was rather upset for the type of balls that were chosen to play the event. Nevertheless, Nadal has done it extremely well to reach the final in Paris without losing a single set.

At the beginning of the tournament, when asked if Rafa can win his 13th French Open, Carlos commented that Rafa is definitely among the top favorites alongside Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem. Moya added some other players to watch, such as Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Sascha Zverev. However, eventually, it came down to the usually final clash between Rafa and Novak.

Moya sounded optimistic about the chances of the Mallorcan to win again the French slam to say:

“We’re playing on Court Philippe-Chatrier. History can be useful. He’s won here in every situation possible.”

Nadal at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2020

At the moment ranked no.2, Rafael has a 21-4 win-loss record in 2020. The Spaniard is now playing at the French Open where he ousted Egor Gerasimov 6-4 6-4 6-2

, Mackenzie Mcdonald 6-1 6-0 6-3, Stefano Travaglia 6-1 6-4 6-0, Sebastian Korda 6-1 6-1 6-2, Jannik Sinner 7-64 6-4 6-1 and Diego Sebastian Schwartzman 6-3 6-3 7-60.

Rafael has won 1 title in 2020 in Acapulco.

Nadal won 85 titles in his career: 21 on hard courts, 59 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 4 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)

Djokovic at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2020

Currently the world no.1, the Serbian has a 37-1 win-loss record in 2020. The Serbian is playing at the French Open where he defeated Mikael Ymer 6-0 6-2 6-3, Richard Berankis 6-1 6-2 6-2, Daniel Elahi Galan 6-0 6-3 6-2, Karen Khachanov 6-4 6-3 6-3, Pablo Carreno-Busta 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4 and Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-2 5-7 4-6 6-1.

Djokovic clinched 4 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open, in Dubai, in New York and in Rome. Djokovic won 82 titles in his career: 48 on hard courts, 15 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 6 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)