Rafael Nadal lost in straight sets against Alexander Zverev at the French Open, but Novak Djokovic is convinced that Nadal performed well against the German. Nadal’s comments that this may not be his final season and that he might return to Roland Garros in 2025 have sparked heated discussions over his future.
During a press conference held before the competition, the 37-year-old acknowledged that this would likely be his last clay-court Grand Slam match. However, Nadal’s reluctance to declare his retirement at the end of the season forced the French Open organizers to postpone their goodbye ceremony until Monday, when he faced Zverev.
Djokovic did not agree that the chapter had ended despite being present to witness his opponent’s 3-6, 6-7, 3-6 loss.
Djokovic expressed his remarks about Nadal in a recent interview and said: “Yeah, it looks like. I think he played very well compared to what we saw from his performance in—where was it?—Rome and where he played in Barcelona. I think he played really on a much higher level. Even though he lost in straight sets, the second and third were close. He could have easily won one of those two sets, and maybe the match was going in a different direction.”
He further said: “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. But it was great to watch. I don’t recall the last time I watched a set of any match live on that level, other than Davis Cup, of course, matches. It was great. I saw, you know, Iga was there, Alcaraz was there, and we all wanted to get, I guess, a glimpse of the atmosphere, you know, of that possibly unique moment, you know, that could be his last. But it doesn’t appear like that.”
Djokovic at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2024
WWWWWLWWLW Currently ranked no.1, Novak has managed to achieve a 15-6 win-loss record in 2024. Djokovic is competing at the French Open where he managed to beat the world no.142 Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4 7-63 6-4.
Novak Djokovic will square off with the world no.63 Roberto Carballes Baena in the 2nd round. Their record is 2-0 for Djokovic.
Djokovic won 98 titles in his career: 52 on hard courts, 19 on clay courts, 19 on indoor courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Djokovic is scheduled to compete next at the Wimbledon (Wimbledon). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 1st of July.
Rafael Nadal in 2024
At the moment ranked no.275, the Spaniard played his last match on the 27th of May when he was defeated by world no.4 Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 in the 1st round of the French Open (draw).
At present, during this year Rafael owns a composed 7-5 match record.
Nadal has scheduled to play next at the Wimbledon (Wimbledon). He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 1st of July.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal squared off 59 times. Their head to head is 30-29 for Djokovic. The last time they played, Rafael Nadal won 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6(4) in the quarter in Paris (French Open) in May 2022.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
