Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the big favorites to win the upcoming French Open, but they need to wait just one more week before playing the French slam.
Tennis French Federation has just announced that the Roland Garros will be postponed by one week, hoping to have more spectators attending the prestigious event.
Gilles Moretton, the president of the Tennis French Federation, released the following statement:
“I am delighted that the discussions with the public authorities, the governing bodies of international tennis, our partners and broadcasters, and the ongoing work with the WTA and ATP, have made it possible for us to postpone the 2021 Roland Garros tournament by a week.”
The French Federation upgraded the main stadium and therefore they are open to having more fans attending by postponing the tournament by one week.
“It will give the health situation more time to improve and should optimize our chances of welcoming spectators at Roland Garros, into our newly-transformed stadium that now covers more than 30 acres,” said Moretton.
“For the fans, the players and the atmosphere, the presence of spectators is vital for our tournament, the spring’s most important international sporting event.”
The French Open was already postponed last year after the outbreak of the global pandemic. The event was staged in Autumn after the US Open. However, that didn’t prevent Rafael Nadal to conquer the tournament for the 13th time.
Apparently, the other tournaments are not going to change their schedules. Therefore, there will be 2 weeks gap between the ATP 1000 in Rome and Roland Garros.
Rafael Nadal in 2021
At the moment ranked no.3, Rafael played his last match on the 17th of February when he lost to world no.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 7-5 in the quarter of the Australian Open (draw).
This season the Spaniard has managed to achieve an overall 4-1 match record.
Novak Djokovic in 2021
Currently ranked no.1, the Serbian played his last match on the 21st of February when he overcame world no.2 Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-2 6-2 in the final of the Australian Open to win his 82nd career title.
During this season the Serbian has managed to achieve an overall 9-0 match record. Novak has won 1 title at the Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic played each other 56 times. Their actual head to head record is 29-27 for Djokovic. The last time they fought against each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-0 6-2 7-5 in the final in Paris (French Open) in October 2020.
Here the highlights.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic |
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