“Novak Djokovic is first because Rafa did not play much” Uncle Toni believes Rafael Nadal’s injuries made the Serbian World No. 1
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Novak Djokovic, Toni Nadal, Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal silenced all of his critics when he pipped Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to become the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles. Nadal was up against the current World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the finals of the 2022 Australian Open and with odds stacked up against him, Nadal made one for the ages comeback when he came from 2-sets down to win the last 3 sets and clinch the finals and also his 21st major.
While Nadal became the first man to 21 Slams, it also helped Djokovic in a way as he could keep his World No. 1 position which could have gone to Medvedev had the Russian won the Australian Open finals against Nadal. As Nadal now takes the lead in the race for the number of Grand Slam titles, he is now the favourite to add one more to his tally when the 2nd Slam of the season, the 2022 French Open.
Given Nadal is a 13-time champion at the Roland Garros, he will be the favourite once again and a win could take him to 22 majors and increase his lead further. With Djokovic’s participation at the French Open doubtful, given his non-vaccinated status and hints of compulsory vaccination by the French government, the Serbian could well be displaced from the top.
Novak has currently held the No. 1 position since 3rd February 2020 when he displaced Nadal at the top of the rankings. While Djokovic has won 4 of the 8 Slams contested since then, he has remained at the top for his consistent performances whereas Nadal had to battle injuries that eventually led to his 2021 season ending in August.
“Today, Djokovic is the first in the world, but that is because Rafa did not play much last season. If Rafa hadn’t been so injured, he would have been the first, but I don’t think it separates him much from Djokovic and Federer,” said Rafa’s uncle and former coach Toni Nadal as reported by Serbian media outlet Novosti.rs.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic met twice in the 2021 season
While Djokovic continues to lead Nadal in their head-to-head, the two players met twice in the 2021 season. They first met in the finals of the 2021 Rome Masters when Nadal went on to win the Masters event for a record-extending 10th time. Nadal won the finals in 3-sets to take the head-to-head to 28-29.
They next met in the semi-finals of the 2021 French Open in what was dubbed as the ‘virtual final’. In a very tight match, Djokovic edged out the injured Nadal 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 after 4 hours and 11 minutes to go ahead in the head-to-head once again and then went on to win the finals 2 days later to win his 2nd French Open title.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)