When then, there was alternation. Before
Rafael Nadal
began a despotic time in 2005 whose end is difficult to see, the most fruitful was
Gustavo Kuerten
, who won in 1997, 2000 and 2001. He was preceded, without going back to the sequence of the six titles of
Bjorn Borg
,
Jim Courier
, champion in 1991 and 1992, and
Sergi Bruguera
, winner in the two following editions. Nobody could imagine that a tennis player would appear capable of relativizing hegemonic periods that at the time deserved due consideration.
«Before there was the entire Argentine army, specialists on the ground who could make things very difficult for you, but the truth is that Rafa has been around for a long time and has played against everyone. It is almost impossible for anyone to match what he has meant for Roland Garros. He is the best in history on this surface and he takes a lot out of it, ”says
Juan Carlos Ferrero
, champion of the tournament in 2003 and today coach of
Carlos Alcaraz
,
in a telephone conversation from Paris
, who at 18 years old appears as the most qualified relay for the left-hander in Spanish tennis.
The presentation of the
speaker
in each of Nadal's matches in Paris is a recurring litany that almost leaves him breathless. Champion in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, the world number three today seeks in this edition, which starts tomorrow, the fourteenth title, which It would also mean staying alone on the roof of the world and breaking the tie at 20 grand with
Roger Federer
.
“In our time tennis was more fragmented between surfaces.
On grass the clear dominator was
Pete Sampras
, while on clay tennis players such as Bruguera or Courier were in command.
Now the speed of the ball has changed.
They serve better and hit harder.
All this has been detrimental to the strategy ”, points out
Albert Costa
, director of the final stages of the Davis Cup, from the AVE back to Barcelona, after the presentation in Madrid of the next edition of the team tournament.
One hundred wins and only two losses
Nadal won against
Djokovic
in the final of Roland Garros on October 11 his 100th victory in an event where he has only lost two games: against
Robin Soderling
in the second round of 2009, and against the Serbian, in the quarter of 2015, its annus horribilis. This time he starts as third seed and the draw suggests a hypothetical semi-final against Nole. “I have seen Nadal perhaps a little less trained, due to the pandemic, but I don't see anyone beating him at Roland Garros. The main rival is still Djokovic, but he lacks the conviction of the Spaniard », suggests Costa.
Three decades after his first title in Paris, the Spaniard, who turns 35 on the 3rd, rides on the back of time. “Physically he has been improving. It sticks very hard to the ball. There is less season of dirt and it begins to play in a similar way on all surfaces, a little more to destroy than to build. People have evolved and Nadal himself has done it to adapt to what tennis demanded every year ”, says Ferrero.
The beginnings of this land tour hinted at a more open stage at the big date. Nadal lost in the Monte Carlo quarterfinals to
Andrey Rublev
and suffered in the first two rounds from Conde de Godó before taking the cup against
Stefanos Tsitsipas
saving a match point. «Rafa has won in Rome, and whoever wins the last tournament has a lot to say. In addition, he did it against Djojkovic », says Costa. The left-hander took little time to react after falling against German
Alexander Zverev
in rooms of the Mutua Madrid Open.
The first two games at the Foro Italico were not easy for him either, to the point that he had to neutralize two match points against Denis Shapovalov, but he grew as the tournament progressed and he won it for the tenth time by beating Nole in three sets in the final. .
He has won Roland Garros with a different balance in previous tournaments.
At this point in his career, he does not need to appear like thunder in the Bois de Boulogne, but to preserve his physical condition and assert his ability and experience in a best-of-five-sets tournament, where opponents with weapons are hardly visible to knock him down. .
One of them could be Tsitsipas, champion in Monte Carlo and Lyon, who lifted him two adverse sets at the Australian Open and seems to have achieved the necessary point of strength and mental stability. "He has shown that he is mentally ready to battle it out, but I think Nadal is the clear favorite to win again," says Ferrero.
From a bird's eye view, striking names appear on the hypothetical path of the Spaniard, such as that of the young
Jannik Sinner
, a finalist in Miami and a possible opponent in the second round, or that of
Andrey Rublev
, who could be measured in the quarterfinals.
It is difficult to dispute his status as the leading candidate for the title.
Nadal, who on Friday inaugurated an effigy in his honor at Roland Garros, is back where he intended.
"If he is physically well, he can still win two or three more years," predicts Costa.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Roland Garros
TennisDjokovic, Nadal and Federer, on the same side of the Roland Garros box
TennisNadal and Djokovic's wear: "I've had a very hard week too, whatever happens will happen"
TennisFrom Rome to Paris: Nadal grows and takes positions for the assault of another Roland Garros
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