2021 French Open

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [3] Rafael Nadal (ESP)

• Head to Head: Djokovic 29 - 28 Nadal
• Last meeting: 2021 Rome Masters Final - Nadal d. Djokovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3

Result :

Source

>Not only are his teammates proud of this achievement but also his compatriots. Serbian tennis star and world number one ranked Novak Djokovic was also thrilled by Jokic’s triumph. He praised Jokic in a recent interview while also proving how important the sport is to their country. Djokovic said, “If he wasn’t the MVP, it wouldn’t be normal, since he was the best. His basketball IQ is impressive. Great guy, very humble, I hope to see him at the Olympics.” Not only do they share a close bond through their friendship but Jokic and Djokovic also share the same nickname. Both of them are called the Joker in their respective sports.

As a guy who has been watching tennis religiously since the Sampras-Agassi days, I can see the recency bias of many popular comments on here. Fed, Nadal, and Novak are all all-time greats. But people always forget just how long Federer has been at the very top of tennis. But it's not Djokovic that threatens his spot as the GOAT.

Nadal's performance in 2010 may be the single Greatest performance in History

https://youtu.be/_3-GiVIE8gc?t=198

Because it’s being played on a clay court. Nadal is known as the king of clay, so he has the advantage over Jokovic.

Definitely not vintage Rafael Nadal out there. Made a huge amount of errors he usually wouldn't.

But it was an inspired performance from Rublev. Very calm and composed and sturdy. Tennis-wise, aside from many Nadal errors, in the actual rallies it seemed Rublev was intelligently pinning Nadal to his backhand corner using his heavy cross-court forehand (averaged 3000+ topspin rpms on forehand today, almost as much as Nadal's 3400 rpm) and capitalizing on the eventual short ball. Nadal's court position on his deuce-side was deeper than usual. Usually Nadal likes to step up and rip the backhand cross-court but with how big Rublev was hitting his own cross-court forehand, that really wasn't an option today. That's a smart thing to try against Nadal on clay - avoid the forehand at all costs.

And in general, Rublev seemed to just wear out Nadal from the back. Maybe Nadal wasn't at his peak fitness or preparation? He hunched over and puffed for air after a 35+ shot rally in the third set while Rublev was bouncing around ready to serve. That was extremely surprising.

Just got to know that now and I was surprised 😮

I've seen many Rafa defeats in my time (he's my favourite player, but Novak and Roger are among my favourites too and I have immense admiration for them), but Rafa losing that semi to Novak at Roland Garros was the first time I cried for his defeat. I thought about this for a while, why I cried: perhaps it was because it was the French Open and it's not a common sight (but of course I'd seen him lose there before). But I suspect I was so moved by seeing Rafa exit court Philippe-Chatrier because for the last half decade I've been seeing cracks appear in the Nadal armour (unlike 15-16 which was just a rut). Seeing Nadal lose to Stefano's at the AO 2 sets up is so un-Nadal like, but seeing him go down at the French (in the very same year) is very striking. I think why I'm so moved by Nadal's aging in particular is that, for me, watching Rafa play tennis at his absolute peak form was watching the highest level of tennis ever played. He was seemingly indestructible mentally and physically, I'd seen herculean efforts from other players, and Rafa would just find a way to win (think last two matches of 09 AO). I was watching a God but now I'm watching a human (and that's hard to see once you get use to what one is capable of)

• Pete Sampras total Grand Slam titles : 14
• Rafael Nadal total French Open titles : 13

Sure, it has been discussed many times. But, I mean...How ? Just how?

How can you even imagine this stat where one great player is going to get another great player's "career record" at "just 1 tournament" ?

The next equivalent of this, if Nadal and Federer stay at 20, is when a new player wins 20 AO titles, or 20 FO titles, or 20 Wimbledons, or 20 USOpens. (I know this is exaggerating but I am just having it so tough to imagine this. ).

What's the equivalent of this 14 and 13 ((or more likely 14 and 14, not to jinx it)) with regards to other sports like golf , or basketball or football ..anything ?

I just cannot imagine. RAFAEL FUCKING NADAL is 1 FO title short to equal Pete Sampras's overall career record just at a SINGLE FUCKING TOURNAMENT.

I cannot, I just fucking cannot imagine how insane, ridiculous, and mind boggling this stat is.

https://english.elpais.com/sports/2021-05-31/rafa-nadal-i-want-to-be-the-best-in-history-but-im-not-going-to-lose-sleep-over-it.html?outputType=amp&ssm=TW_CC&__twitter_impression=true&s=09

2021 French Open

[3] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [10] Diego Schwartzman (ARG)

• Head to Head: Nadal 10 - 1 Schwartzman
• Last meeting: 2020 Roland Garros SF - Nadal d. Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(0)

Result :