Why Novak Djokovic has the upper-hand on Rafael Nadal

For over a decade, Rafael Nadal has been deemed the King of Clay. Here’s why Novak Djokovic has the upper hand at this year’s ‘unique’ French Open.

This year’s French Open is unlike any we have witnessed before, with the implications of the pandemic leading the event to become the first French Open in history to be rescheduled as far as 3 months forward. Now entering the much colder and wetter season of Autumn/Fall, we are seeing huge changes being made to the French Open, most of which are out of the control of tournament officials.

Needless to say, the one to be most heavily affected by these changes is the King of Clay himself, Rafael Nadal. With the change to heavier Wilson balls in response to the dampened courts, as well as the much colder weather, the Spaniard will need to embrace a slower-paced game in which his signature topspin and court coverage will not be as prominent or effective as they so often are at the French Open.

On the other hand, Novak Djokovic, who is deemed as more of a hard-court specialist, will be welcoming the new conditions with open arms. Of course, the cold weather will be a bother for all, but there is no doubt that Djokovic will adapt to the changed surface and tennis balls which now resemble hard-court conditions far more easily than Clay King Nadal, whose record on such surfaces is not quite as impressive as the world number one.

In addition to the very unusual conditions, the pre-Roland Garros tournament in Rome was a clear depiction of where these two GOATs are in terms of their form, mentality, and physical condition. As we know, Novak Djokovic claimed the title after besting Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, an opponent who had given Rafael Nadal the same treatment only 2 days prior, to knock him out of the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome.

The Italian Open in Rome is a clay tournament, meaning one would expect a solid performance from the King of Clay Rafael Nadal, however, this was not the case. Additionally, the weather in Rome was nowhere near the catastrophic weather players are currently experiencing at the French Open, meaning Nadal’s drop in performance may lie beyond environmental factors.

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Contrastingly, Novak Djokovic has been in amazing form all year, remaining undefeated since the start of the 2020 season, only exiting a tournament due to a complication involving a lineswoman at the US Open. While Novak’s punishment was most certainly justified given the nature of the situation, one cannot deny that whether or not by his own accord, he had missed out on a solid opportunity to go the distance for the Slam.

While we can only speculate how well Novak Djokovic would have performed had he remained at the US Open, we can be sure of his strong performance in the events afterward, from winning the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome to a solid start at the Roland Garros. His first-round match against Mikael Ymer was nothing short of what most have referred to as ‘brutal’, besting the young Swede in straight sets for a 6-0 6-2 6-3 win.

While Nadal’s start to the French Open was of a similar fashion to the world number one, defeating Egor Gerasimov also in straight sets, the score was far more respectable, the Spaniard getting away with a 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory. From a neutral standpoint, the difference between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal’s paths to Roland Garros is clear, with the Serbian adapting and overcoming as the Spaniard works hard to keep it together moving forward.

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On a final note, despite what we have seen so far, it is still too early and too unprecedented to make any solid prediction to how these matches will unfold in the upcoming rounds, with regards to the many upsets we have witnessed thus far. With that said, it is true that Djokovic has had the upper-hand over Nadal up till now, in multiple facets, but only time can tell who the undisputed champion will be once all is said and done.

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