FIND OUT: What record of Novak Djokovic will Rafael Nadal find tough to match at French Open
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Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
World No.1 Novak Djokovic became the only player in the Open Era tennis to become the only player to make 12 consecutive quarterfinal appearances at the French Open. The Serb achieved this rare feat after beating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the fourth round.
American legend Jimmy Connors holds the record with 13 straight quarterfinals at the US Open between 1973 and 1985, and Djokovic will try to match that record in Paris next June.
Connors also made 11 consecutive Wimbledon quarter-finals, joined by Ivan Lendl, who emulated the feat at the US Open and Roger Federer made 11 appearances at the Australian Open between 2004 and 2014.
Djokovic is also a former champion in Paris, when he won the elusive title in 2016 beating Andy Murray in the finals. In fact, he has been one of the most consistent and dominant player at Roland Garros. Such has been his impressive showing in the French capital that he has never lost at the event before the quarters since 2010.
Nada’s streak was disturbed in 2009 & 2015
On the other hand, despite winning the French Open 13 times, Rafael Nadal will not be able to come close to Djokovic’s latest record of 12 nonstop Roland Garros quarterfinals. The King of Clay made his debut in Paris in 2005 and since then has only lost two matches. He has a staggering win/loss record of 105/2. Nadal’s only two losses in Paris came in 2009 and 2015, which was enough to interrupt his streak.
The Spaniard defeated Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals and is the favourite to win the title for the 14th time. Incidentally, both stalwarts will meet in the semis of this year’s French Open. It is also to be noted that Nadal beat Djokovic in last year’s final en-route to his 13th title. The No.1 seed will now take on Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals later in the day. He is already the reigning Australian Open champion.
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Vivek Krishnan
(767 Articles Published)