Novak Djokovic named Rafael Nadal among his biggest threats at the Australian Open and Mats Wilander understands why.
Last year, the Spaniard won the title, much to everyone's surprise, and Djokovic keenly followed what happened. He mentioned him as one of the players capable of defeating him in Australia, and Wilander believes that a strong start for Nadal may make Djokovic uneasy.
I would put Novak as the favourite over the rest of the field. Maybe the only one who has a chance to do something against him is Rafa. Of course, Matteo Berrettini can hit 50 aces in one match and nobody would stop him, or Zverev.
Despite believing that Nadal could get into Djokovic's head and create mayhem, the Swedish former player also could see a scenario where Nadal crashes out early in the event. He actually said that Nadal could lose to 15-20 different players.
But if it’s a normal day, Novak in that court after what happened… Rafa could maybe get into his head, but also Rafa could probably lose against 15 or 20 players.
Wilander knows that Djokovic deals well with pressure but he could see how the grand slam race could create further pressure on Djokovic. He's trailing Nadal at the moment and he'll certainly believe that he must win this one.
The only thing I see as a pressure that Novak might deal with, is that the Grand Slam race is back on. And maybe he could feel ‘I have to win the Australian Open, because if I don’t, Rafa might. And then is the French Open where Rafa is the favourite. In the middle of 2022, I felt the race was dead. Now (it) is back on a little bit.
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