Recently, Andy Roddick brought up the prospect of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic facing off in the French Open 2024 first round.
At Paris’s Stade Roland Garros, the French Open is scheduled to begin on Monday, May 20. Interestingly, since 2016, only Djokovic and Nadal have won the title; the Spaniard has won it five times in particular.
Roddick expressed his desire for the Spaniard to arrive in Paris injury-free in a recent podcast episode, given that he has been vulnerable to injuries throughout his career.
Roddick said: “Any injury from here on out could be the last injury. I still feel if he gets matches in and if he gets a clean bill of health for two or three events going into Roland Garros, certainly one of the favourites.”
Then, since Djokovic is expected to be seeded first and Nadal is not, Roddick suggested that the two may face off in the tournament.
Roddick added: “Also, something that’s not talked about enough right now, he goes in unseeded, we could potentially have a Rafa-Novak first round [at French Open]. I could tell you if I was one of the top seeds, who I would not wanna play first round if he’s just floating in the draw, is a guy who’s won that event 14 times.”
Novak Djokovic in 2024
Ranked world no.1, the Serbian played his last match on the 13th
of April when he lost to world no.6 Casper Ruud 6-4 1-6 6-4 in the semifinal in Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (draw).Until now, during this year Novak has managed to achieve a compiled 11-4 win-loss record. Novak Djokovic’s most significant result of the current season was getting to the semifinal at the Australian Open and Monte Carlo.
Rafael Nadal in 2024
Ranked world no.644, the Spaniard played his last match on the 17th of April when he was overcome by world no.11 Alex De Minaur 7-5 6-1 in the 2nd round in Barcelona (draw).
This season Rafael has achieved a compiled 3-2 match record.
He is also scheduled to play in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) on the 24th of April and Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) on the 8th of May.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal squared off 59 times. Their actual record is 30-29 for Djokovic. Previously, the last time they squared off, Rafael Nadal won 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6(4) in the quarter in Paris (French Open) in May 2022.
Here are the highlights.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal |
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