French Open 2024: ‘Excited’ Novak Djokovic Gives Credit to Alexander Zverev but Remains Wary of the Rafael Nadal Threat in Paris

Novak Djokovic shines bright as a Nadal fan ahead of the French Open. While the Serb is busy in Geneva, he couldn’t ignore the Grand Slam’s iconic main draw list featuring the reigning Italian Open against the Mallorcan. While Djokovic expresses his admiration for Rafa, he leaves a sly warning for the German in Paris’s clay court.

According to Punto de Break, Djokovic seemed hopeful about Rafa’s performance in Roland Garros. As the Serb continued to try his pace by attending the Geneva Open, he was spotted dropping a warning for Rafa’s competitor in the first round, Alexander Zverev. “Yes, I’ve seen it. Total show. I’m excited to watch that game, it will be a very interesting match. Zverev comes in a great way, to win in Rome. On the Roland Garros court, it’s not the same Rafa we’re used to. It’s Roland Garros, so we’ll see what happens” said Djokovic.

While Djokovic unleashed his A game in Geneva by defeating Yannick Hanfmann in easy straight sets, the French Open’s main draw list offered him to witness a blockbuster clash between the famous Mallorcan legend and Zverev at the tour’s first round.  Djokovic’s statement highlighted Nadal’s furious clay court dominance despite the German ATP star’s impressive success recently. Zverev won the Italian Open title for the second time. He also reached the Miami Open’s semifinals against Grigor Dimitrov and the Indian Wells tour’s quarterfinals against Carlos Alcaraz.

Zverev’s performance speaks highly of his potential at the French Open and his control over clay surface. Despite this, Djokovic’s heart still screams for Rafa as he believes it is impossible to predict the Spaniard’s game in the French Open tour, a championship won by Nadal 14 times.

Novak’s statement about Rafa’s Roland Garos participation shows his admiration for the Spaniard. This world’s number-one ATP star revealed his respect for the Spanish tennis legend when Nadal took a sly dig at the Serbian ATP star.

Novak Djokovic said that his respect towards Nadal “supersedes some negative opinions” 

Last year, the Mallorcan commented on Djokovic’s victory in France in a quirky way. Nadal said that the Serb would have been utterly “frustrated”  if he couldn’t win the title and prove himself as the GOAT. While the fraternity expected Djokovic to comment on that harshly, this world’s number-one showed his humble personality again. “I have no intention of speaking in a negative light about him or Roger Federer – my respect towards them supersedes some negative opinions I might have. Again, that’s Rafa’s opinion and I, of course, don’t agree. I have my opinion, but I won’t share it as I don’t want us to go deeper into that. There is no need for that”- he said.

Despite differing with Rafa’s opinion, Djokovic’s humble response showcases why he is a true gentleman in the current scene. It also offers fans to show the respect this Serb has for his immediate seniors, who became his colleagues afterward in professional tennis.

Novak Djokovic’s warning for Zverev represents the tennis fraternity’s excitement to watch Rafa on Paris’s clay court for the last time. It is immensely beautiful to see how stalwarts like Djokovic are still rooting and cheering for the Spanish ATP legend in the French Open.