French Open: Rafa vs. Djokovic Blockbuster Semi
By Leo Koukakis
The French Open is just days away, and with so much potential history on the line at this years event, this mornings draw was especially important. Most tennis fans had their eye on where Rafa and Novak would fall in hopes of a historical final.
Rafa Nadal has already established himself as the greatest clay court player ever, but has been unable to conquer the mountain that is Novak Djokovic in recent years. These two warriors faced off in an epic battle on the clay courts of Rome where Novak came out on top without dropping a set for their 7th straight meeting.
Novak will be aiming to cement his place among the games all time greats. He has won every ATP Masters 1000 event except Cincinnati, and has captured every other major multiple times. This is the one title that has alluded him. Many figured it was his time after his dominant (7-5 6-3 6-1) quarterfinal win over Rafa last year, but he would eventually fall to Stan Wawrinka in the final.
With both of these greats aiming for history at this event, many tennis fans were hoping for them to fall on opposite sides of the draw to meet in the final, but unfortunately it just didn’t work out that way. Assuming both men were to take care of business, they would meet in a blockbuster semi final. However, both men must take care of business in the early rounds to make the potential blockbuster semifinal a reality.
Novak shouldn’t have much of an issue with his biggest competition being an aging David Ferrer and struggling Tomas Berdych, but Rafa has a number of potential tough match ups before the final 4. Fabio Fognini isn’t exactly the most loved tennis player around, but he has had plenty of recent success against Rafa. Many remember how the Italian beat Rafa 3 times last season including an incredible match at the US Open. Rafa has managed to beat Fabio in their two meetings this season, but this still has the potential to be a tough match up for Nadal in the round of the 32.
If Rafa manages to get through the Italian it would set up a potential block buster with the young star Dominic Thiem. Thiem has rapidly risen through the rankings, and comes into this tournament with the most wins on tour this season. He is one of the guys that possess the type of power that can actually hit Rafa off the court, and eliminate the advantage Rafa usually gets from longer rallies on the clay. While both of these matches would be relatively tough, I fully expect Rafa to get through them.
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On one hand, we have Rafa who wants to win his 10th French Open title to truly cement himself as the greatest clay court player of all time, and to prove that he can still win majors (hasn’t won a slam since 2014). On the other, we have Novak Djokovic who is hoping to finally capture the title that barely alluded him last season, and would place him among the games immortals. If, and it is a big if, these two men met in the semifinal it would truly be something for every tennis fan to behold.