French Open 2022, Quarter Finals, Tuesday, 31/05/2022
There is exactly one thing that fans of the French Open 2022 will regret on Tuesday: Namely, that two of the best tennis players of all time will already meet in the quarter-finals and that the 59th head-to-head duel will produce a loser!
There are 41 Grand Slam titles on the court, years of experience and triumphs on both sides. And although arguably the best clay player in history will also be there, the bookmakers favour exactly the other. Read my Djokovic Nadal tip to find out why I also see the Djoker at an advantage!
Novak Djokovic against Rafael Nadal, what a quarter-final this will be! There is hardly a pairing that has happened more often in the last almost two decades. The Serb is in the lead with 30:28, but by the narrowest of margins.
It would be beyond the scope of this article to list all the special features of this direct comparison. The duel has taken place nine times at the French Open, and here it is Nadal who has shown the better performance with 7:2.
As strong as that haul reads, the most recent memory highlights the 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 that Djokovic snatched in the semi-finals a year ago. Bookmakers had Djokovic and Nadal virtually tied at the start of the tournament.
In the meantime, however, the world No. 1 has surged ahead as he plays an excellent tournament. Although he was allowed to play very few matches in 2022 and was often eliminated early, he is serving in Paris as if there is no stopping him.
He started with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 win over Yoshihito Nishioka and followed it up with an equally commanding 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 win over Alex Molcan. Aljaz Bedene was no match for Djokovic either, here the fans witnessed a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Many had expected that at least Diego Schwartzman could make life difficult for him, but they thought wrong. Djokovic rallied to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 and left no doubt that the title would only be his.
With odds of 1.33 to 2.80 he is ahead. Rafael Nadal would love to keep up with the world number 1, but will he really succeed? Even before the start of the tournament, it was clear that he was not completely fit.
As expected, he had no problems against Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in the 1st round, and his 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 win over Corentin Moutet was also a commanding performance. Some people were expecting Botic van de Zandschulp, but Nadal eliminated him as well.
In the end, the scoreboard showed a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. In the round of 16, Nadal faced Felix Auger-Aliassime. The match went back and forth for hours and the young Canadian mercilessly showed Nadal’s weaknesses.
3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3, it was experience that finally prevailed. The world number 5 was only able to make use of six of 22 break chances, and against Djokovic he will have to act with much more pressure.
In the last eleven years, Nadal has only lost one semi-final at the French Open, in 2015. Against? Novak Djokovic, of all people, in the last eight!
My Djokovic Nadal Tip
Actually this duel would have been one for the final, now the two giants meet already in the quarterfinals. The course of the tournament so far makes me quickly understand why the betting companies are betting on Novak Djokovic.
Nadal is still a great fighter but needs a lot more power and is also not fully fit. So I expect a close encounter, but with the following result:
Djokovic wins at Over 30.5 Games!
