Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the 1996 Roland Garros winner, spoke with SportKlub about the quarterfinal match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Rafael Nadal has only been a non-favorite on the court at Roland Garros a few times in his career, and one of those matches was this year's quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic. Nonetheless, by overcoming his most daunting opponent, the 21-time Grand Slam champion underlined why he is a great champion.
Despite the fact that both players produced strong performances throughout their Roland Garros quarterfinal encounter, the Spaniard eventually won in four sets. In his semifinal match, he will take on Alexander Zverev. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the former world number one, expressed his thoughts when he said:
"From the first point, Nadal's body language showed that it would be difficult for Novak to beat him. To win over Rafa like this, he had to play not at 100 percent, but at 150 percent of the possibilities. From the first game in the match, Nadal was sharpened and ready for battle."
"He had to play that way if he wanted to win - to be on the field, aggressive, to try to dictate points. When you play like that, you make a lot more mistakes. On the other hand, Rafa acted extremely physically, which surprised me a lot."
"I won't say that he was fresher, but physically at Novak's level in that match. Djokovic realized that he would have to play at the upper limit of his chances if he wanted to win."
"Maybe this is the last time they will play against each other. Maybe Rafa says on Sunday that he is retiring after the 22nd Grand Slam title, maybe he says ‘this is it, see you in the next life’. Obviously, Novak felt the weight of the duel much more on his shoulders. I hope they both continue, but you never know."
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