Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will square up in a French Open heavyweight clash on Friday determined to ignore the history-tinged implications of their mouth-watering contest.
Nadal, the 22-year-old triple champion, is two wins away from joining Bjorn Borg as the only man to win four successive Roland Garros titles.
But should world number three Djokovic take the semifinal, the 21-year-old Serbian will become the first man to defeat the Spaniard at the French Open.
A victory for the Australian Open champion will also see him replace Nadal as the world number two, a position the popular Spanish left-hander has held for three years.
Nadal is growing weary of comparisons with Borg, who completed his four successive Roland Garros titles in 1981, five years before he was even born.
He is also quick to remind people that so far he has collected 26 tour trophies whereas Borg won six French Opens and 62 titles in all.
”This is just talk, talk, talk. What is important is to play well on the court on Friday, and we’ll see who wins,” said Nadal, who reached the semifinal with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 demolition of compatriot Nicolas Almagro, a man with more clay-court match wins than any other player in 2008 coming into Roland Garros.
”It’s no more motivation for me. The only motivation is to play good and try to win the title here. But everybody’s talking about Borg as if he was somebody from another planet.”
Despite Nadal’s reluctance to mention himself in the same breath as the great Swede, his form here in 2008 has been so impressive that even the likes of Djokovic and world number one Roger Federer can’t fail to be intimidated.
His victory over Almagro was the most one-sided quarterfinal in the history of Roland Garros.
Furthermore, he has lost just 25 games in five rounds, the lowest in any Grand Slam event in the Open era.
But Djokovic is not in an entirely hopeless position.
He may have lost seven of the pair’s 10 meetings, but has shared the last four while two of his defeats — at Wimbledon in 2007 and here in the 2006 quarterfinals — have come about through an injury-enforced retirement.
The Serbian, who has been the most successful player on the tour in 2008, lost to Nadal at the same stage in 2007, but took Nadal to three sets in the semifinal of the Hamburg Masters claycourt tournament three weeks ago.
”I don’t want to get into the history books by beating Nadal. It’s not my priority,” said Djokovic.
”My priority is to keep winning, keep playing well, and then just try to get as far as I can in the tournament. Winning the Grand Slam title is much more important.”
The Serbian respects the challenge of facing Nadal, but believes he is a better player than 12 months ago when he lost the semifinal in straight sets.
”He’s been playing better and better. I think the serve is a lot better this year, on clay especially, and he’s going for some shots much more. He combines that with his great physical strength and patience.”
Djokovic believes the key will be to match Nadal stroke for stroke and not allow the champion to dictate.
”I think Hamburg was a really good match for me. If I play that way and if I’m able to keep on going that way, keep that aggression on the high level and be consistent in the strokes and just try to stick with him, then I have a good chance.” — AFP
