Roland Garros measures the uncertainty of the Balearic Islands and the precocity of the Murcia, with the long shadow of Djokovic on the horizon
Paris smells like 2005. The year when young 19-year-old Rafael Nadal, just turned around during the tournament, made his debut at the Paris Grand Slam and won the title in the final against Mariano Puerta. That boy, who received the Musketeers Cup from Zinedine Zidane and who on his way to the title had beaten the world number one Roger Federer, started a dynasty in Paris that continues to this day. The aroma is the same as when Carlos Alcaraz now enters the Bolonia Forest, where from May 22 to June 5 the reign of world tennis will be settled.
Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz compete in one of the most interesting and hard-fought Roland Garros of recent times, with little clarity as to who is the top favorite and with the suspense of a duel between the Serb at stake. horizon and Manacor’s player in the quarter-finals.
Nadal’s thirteen titles under Philippe Chatrier are always enough arguments to place him as the lead candidate in the French capital, but his physical condition, hours before the tournament starts, is an unknown quantity. The Spaniard, who had the best start to the season with 20 wins in a row, suffered a rip in his rib that kept him in dry dock for six weeks, missing Monte Carlo and Barcelona, and was unable to make his return. lowest level in Madrid (fourth) and Rome (eighth) due to discomfort in the chronic injury he sustains to his foot.
Nadal has been training in Paris since Wednesday and is confident that, at age 35, who turns 36 on June 3, the physique will last for seven best-of-five-set matches. “My foot is better. That’s why I’m here. I’m ready to play the best I can,” said Nadal, who doesn’t see himself as a favorite. “No, I’m not the favorite at all. I am one of the contenders for the title. Today I am not the favorite.”
Nadal makes his debut against Australian Jordan Thompson, an a priori quiet match, before taking on Stan Wawrinka in the second round, Botic Van de Zandschulp in the third and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 16. It is in chambers true. the deviation comes. Nadal’s fifth-seeded status has matched him in the same room as Djokovic and could face the Serb in the quarter-finals, their earliest duel in Paris since Belgrade tipped him in the same round in 2015. Alexander Zverev or Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals and Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final complete one of Nadal’s most complicated paths in Paris.
The prospects of a fourteenth title are also complicated by the explosion of Alcaraz, who achieves his second Roland Garros as the best tennis player on the clay-court tour. After the title in Miami, he hit the bump on the first lap of Monte Carlo, but he soon woke up. Victories in Barcelona and Madrid and rest in Rome to avoid increasing stress on the ankle. Alcaraz has arrived in Paris as number six in the world and can hit the table he misses on the track, win his first Grand Slam. His route in the draw puts him with a previous tennis player in the first round, with Albert Ramos in the second, with Sebastian Korda, his executioner in Monte Carlo, in the third, and with Cameron Norrie in the round of 16. the challenge another level. Zverev in the quarters, Djokovic or Nadal in the semifinals and Medvedev or Tsitsipas in the final.
The Russian and the Greek have benefited the most from the draw, as they have been cleared of the three beasts until the final, although Medvedev arrives in low form, having missed the gravel tour due to a hernia, while Tsitsipas still doesn’t know. what it’s like to win a Grande. Aiming to match Nadal’s 21 is Djokovic, the third in discord of the triumvirate. Practically unheard of until the advent of brick dust, the Serb has exponentially raised the level to the ceiling in Rome, with a title that gives him wings for a Roland Garros he won twice and which he took last year’s thorn from winning. a Nadal at a good level.
“When you talk about Roland Garros, Nadal is always the favorite. It is true that Alcaraz has been extraordinary this year. I aim to win all the Grand Slam titles,” explained Djokovic, who is also the number one of the world in Paris and who faces a terrifying month defending Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Source: La Verdad
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
