'Novak Djokovic made a horrific start against Rafael Nadal in Paris,' says Wilander

Speaking about the Australian Open favorites, Mats Wilander put Novak Djokovic slightly ahead of Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal. The Swede doesn't think that Novak is so much in front of his closest rivals, reminding that he hasn't won a Major for a year and highlighting his US Open and Roland Garros errors. Djokovic got defaulted for the first time after hitting the lineswoman and played way beyond his best in Paris to suffer a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 loss to the clay king Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard dominated in sets one and two like not many times before against the Serb and sealed the deal with a stronger performance in the third set's closing stages. Rafa had 31 winners and 14 unforced errors, controlled his strokes nicely and stole 51% of the return points to earn seven breaks from 18 opportunities. Djokovic couldn't find his A-game for over two hours, spraying 50 unforced errors and failing to match Nadal's pace in sets one and two after a poor game plan.

Rafa destroyed Novak in the shortest range up to four strokes, which proved crucial since they stayed close to each other in the more advanced exchanges. Determined to impose his shots right from the start, Rafa clinched a break in the encounter's first game when Novak's backhand landed long. The Spaniard seized another at 2-0 and painted a backhand crosscourt winner at 4-0 to extend the gap.

Novak Djokovic won only seven games against Rafael Nadal in Paris last year.

Rafa held at 15 in game six to wrap up the opener with a bagel and gather a boost. The defending champion earned two breaks in set number two and held at 30 in game eight with a service winner to forge a 6-0, 6-2 advantage in an hour and 34 minutes, making another big step towards the 20th Major crown. They stayed neck and neck until 5-5 in the third set after trading breaks, with Novak hitting a double fault in the 11th game to lose serve and propel Rafa towards the title following another commanding hold a few minutes later.

"I don't see Djokovic as the huge favorite over the likes of Nadal and Dominic Thiem. He might not be able to trust his form; it's been a year since he won his last Major, and you can't just dig back to the other eight times you won it. But I think complaining about the conditions or whatever it was is a good thing for him because it shows he's keen, looking for revenge. Something made him explode at the US Open because he played Pablo Carreno-Busta, and it was only the first set. Something was off there definitely. Then, Novak made a horrific start at the Roland Garros final, going for drop shots right on," Mats Wilander said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3q9IHgE