(Melbourne) Returned to the height of Rafael Nadal with a 22e Grand Slam title conquered at the Australian Open, and once again world No.1, Novak Djokovic ideally launched a 2023 season which could allow him to become statistically the best player in history, if not the most loved.
See you in Dubai
If his left thigh injury suffered before the Australian Open did not prevent him from winning a 10e title in Melbourne, Djokovic will take a few weeks off to fully recover.
The 35-year-old Serb, who will undergo “medical examinations in the coming days”, intends to return “to the Dubai tournament, which will take place in a month (Editor’s note: February 27-March 4)”. “I hope I will be able to return to the courts in a few weeks,” he told AFP on Monday, trophy in hand, during the traditional photo session by the Yarra River.
But this return will be short-lived since he will then miss the American tour in the spring. The American authorities have extended the ban on foreigners not vaccinated against COVID-19 until April 10.
Djokovic will thus have to make a cross on the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells (March 6-19) and that of Miami (March 19-April 2). “You know my position, so it’s like that”, reacted laconically at the beginning of January the Serb, already deprived of these same tournaments last year, then of the United States International at the end of August, after having been expelled from the International of Australia in early 2022. His absence from the United States in the spring could cost him his place as world No.1.
In the garden of “Rafa” at Roland-Garros
PHOTO MARTIN KEEP, AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE Injured in a hip, Rafael Nadal was beaten from the 2e tour in Melbourne and announced that he would be out for six to eight weeks.
The next major meeting of the Serb will be Roland-Garros at the end of May, where the one with whom he now shares the record of 22 Grand Slam titles, Rafael Nadal, will await him. Provided that the 36-year-old Spaniard, who has a string of physical glitches, is fit for Paris… Injured in a hip, he was beaten from the 2e tour in Melbourne and announced that he would be out for six to eight weeks.
If Djokovic leads narrowly (30-29) in the balance sheet of their confrontations, at Roland-Garros, the balance sheet leans largely (8-2) in favor of the Mallorcan, 14 times winner Porte d’Auteuil. But the victory of the Serb in the semi-final in 2021, “one of the three greatest matches of all (his) career” according to him, had opened the door to a coronation in the final, the second after 2016. last year, Nadal dismissed Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
“There, we were at Novak (in Melbourne) and now we are going to Rafa (at Roland-Garros)”, Djokovic’s coach, Goran Ivanisevic, launched on Sunday. And on Parisian clay, even at 36 and despite the arrival of the younger generation, “if Rafa enters the court, for me he is still the favorite”, underlines the former Croatian player.
How far can “Djoko” go?
Failing to put an end to Nadal’s hegemony at Roland-Garros, Djokovic will be able to aim for a seventh title at Wimbledon in July. According to Ivanisevic, “he definitely has two to three years left” to conquer other Grand Slam titles. As long as Djokovic and Nadal are in good physical condition, “the battle between them” will continue, he adds. “He comes from elsewhere, his brain works differently (..) the guy is incredible”, raves his trainer.
The person concerned, he “wants to win as many Grand Slam titles as possible. These trophies are the main motivating factor. I really don’t want to stop there, I don’t intend to. I know that when I feel good physically and mentally, I can win any Grand Slam tournament, against anyone. “But nothing is ever certain. I don’t know how many years or how many Majors I will still be able to play,” admits the Serb.
For former world number 1 Mats Wilander, consultant for the French daily The Team, Djokovic “exudes an impression of superiority rarely seen in the history of the game. Apart from the opposing service, he absolutely controls everything that happens on a court”. The Serb “has further modernized” his tennis, taking “the young people to their own game”, savors the Swede.
Enough to reinforce the Serbian’s hopes of becoming the “GOAT” (the greatest player of all time, editor’s note), even if various controversies have made him less popular than Federer and Nadal.
