French Open: Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal to enter final, says ‘one of top 3 matches I ever played’
Novak has now become the first man in history to defeat Nadal twice at Roland-Garros. 13-time champion Nadal now owns a lifetime record of 105-3 at his favourite event.
New Delhi: World Number 1 Novak Djokovic who authored one of the most impressive victories of his tennis career against Rafael Nadal in Roland Garros last night was quick to place the match as one of the top three matches he has ever played.
“Definitely the best match that I was part of ever in Roland-Garros for me, and top three matches that I ever played in my entire career, considering quality of tennis, playing my biggest rival on the court where he has had so much success and has been the dominant force in the last 15-plus years,” said the 18-time major champion.
Defeating Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros is considered the toughest task in all of tennis — maybe in all of sport for that matter. But Novak who was meeting the Spaniard for the 58th time in his career kept his cool on Court Phillipe-Chatrier and handed the third-seeded Nadal a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 defeat to snap his 35-match winning streak on Parisian clay.
4️⃣ hours and 1️⃣1️⃣ minutes
You’ve earned that smile @DjokerNole!#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/75wWsWNUwY
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 11, 2021
Djokovic only player to beat Nadal twice at Roland-Garros
Novak has now become the first man in history to defeat Nadal twice at Roland-Garros. 13-time champion Nadal now owns a lifetime record of 105-3 at his favourite event.
The Serbian made an apt analogy by comparing competing against Nadal at Paris as climbing Mount Everest. Nadal had won seven of his previous eight matches against Djokovic in Paris, including a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 drubbing in 2020 final.
“Each time you step on the court with him, you know that you have to kind of climb Mount Everest to win against this guy here,” Djokovic said after the four hour and 11-minute tussle.
Djokovic who is aiming to become the first man in the Open Era to win all four Grand Slams multiple times will now clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in Sunday’s final.