“I Was Rushing”- Novak Djokovic Reveals What Went Wrong At French Open 2020 Against Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic has to wait a while for his 18th Grand Slam title. The Serbian was up against Rafael Nadal in the final of the French Open 2020. The Spaniard claimed his 13th Roland Garris title and extended Djokovic’s wait as he failed to resist his opponent’s aggression. Although he tried his best to fetch the result in his favor, yet every effort failed in front of Rafa.

The Serbian was in a spectacular form coming into the final. He lost only a match prior to the final and was confident of winning this one as well. However, the results went against him. Djokovic himself came forth to analyze as to what went wrong against Nadal.

Djokovic’s main asset in this tournament has been his precise dropshots. Although, Rafa came in having done proper homework and capitalized on the dropshots to fetch important points.

“[The dropshot] didn’t work great today, let’s say. [Nadal] was winning a lot of those dropshot points that were played by my side. I didn’t play so many in the end of the day. I did try tactically different things, but not much worked in the first two sets”, Djokovic stated.

Rhythm is an integral part of any game. If it is broken, it’s very difficult to regain it. Often the rhythm decides between the winner and the loser and the final in Paris was no exception. Although Djokovic did try to break his opponent’s rhythm, it seemed Nadal was prepared for everything today.

“I wanted to kind of disrupt his rhythm, obviously. But he was ready. He was there, he was prepared. He was playing all the right shots today. It’s just one of these days where you have to just say, Chapeau, and well done.”

Novak Djokovic failed to capitalize on adverse conditions

The delayed French Open saw unfavorable weather conditions over Paris. It was relatively cold and damp. Everyone struck Rafa to be the winner due to the adverse conditions out there. Although he is the one who had the last laugh.

“I was also thinking that these conditions are more favorable to me. I was feeling great throughout the tournament playing. […] But, yeah, I mean, Rafa has proven everybody wrong. That’s why he’s a great champion. He just played a fantastic match today.“

Novak Djokovic was trying to grab quick points which caused the downfall. In heavyweight matches, it is favorable to keep patience as the greatest virtue. The Serbian went off from this and hence suffered the loss.

“I was probably rushing a bit much, trying to play shorter points, probably go for winners. I probably wasn’t constructing the points well. That reflected on the result. But that was also caused by [Rafael Nadal], by his amazing defense. [Rafael Nadal] was getting a lot of balls back. Normally all the shots that I play after two, three quick exchanges from the back of the court, when I hit it against nine out of ten guys, it’s a winner, the point is done. But not against him.”

Nadal creates new records

Following his Roland Garros win in 2020, the Spaniard has broken his tally of winning 12 titles in Paris to take it to 13. The magic figure came in with a century of wins in the French Open.

His overall statistic shows a mere 2 losses along with the century of victories. For 15 years he’s been the undisputed ruler of the French Open. The French Open 2020 victory brought Nadal and Roger Federer on the equal footing with 20 Grand Slam wins. Rafa continues to write history each day. He’s surely marking the next Grand Slams on his venture for the 21st.