French Open 2021: Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal Preview, Head to Head and Prediction for Roland Garros


French Open 2021: Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal Preview, Head to Head and Prediction for Roland Garros

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal

The two goliaths of the game, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will be up against each other in the semifinal of the 2021 French Open. Djokovic is the World No.1 while Nadal is ranked 3rd in the World.

Match Details:

TournamentFrench Open 2021
MatchNovak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal
RoundSemi-Final
Date11th June, 2021
Prize Money$453,940 (INR 3,40,45,500 approx.)
VenueParis, France
SurfaceClay Court

Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal: Preview

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

Top seed Novak Djokovic is coming off a fiery performance against Matteo Berrettini. The Serb beat the Italian in a late night match on Wednesday and his reaction at the end showed what it meant to him. He will be carrying a lot of confidence from the quarterfinal battle. Apart from a few hiccups, he has been in great form in general and especially his mental strength display has been the highlight of his outing in Paris this time.

As for the 13-time champion Rafael Nadal, he has been as dominant in the tournament as ever. He came into Paris with titles at Barcelona and Rome to his name and has continued his good form in the French capital.

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He has had initial round wins over Alexei Popyrin, Richard Gasquet and Cameron Norrie in straight sets. And then beat formidable opponents in Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman. The Argentine took a set off him and Nadal bageled him to enter the semifinals for a record 14th time.

Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal: Head-to-Head

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

This will be a record 58th meeting between the duo. Djokovic edges past Nadal in the H2H 29-28. They last met at the final of the Rome Masters last month where Nadal won in three sets.

Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal: Prediction

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

There is no clear favorite whenever these two maestros play each other. However, one has to give Nadal some brownie points given the match is played on the Parisian Clay. This could very well be the match of the tournament, given both the players are coming into the match two class opponents in such good form.

Djokovic will look to exploit Nadal’s backhand while the ‘King of Clay’ could go about his usual routine of moving Djokovic around. The top seed will also look to take chances on Nadal’s vulnerable second serve. Having said that, given his record at Roland Garros, Nadal should beat his arch nemesis and equal the head to head record.

Prediction: Nadal to win in four sets.

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Also read: French Open 2021: Barbora Krejcikova vs Maria Sakkari Preview, Head to Head and Prediction for Roland Garros