King dethroned by the Djoker
Rafael Nadal says Au revoir to the French Open after a decade of dominance
Rafael Nadal’s birth date coincindes with the fortnight the French open is played and for almost a decade he celebrated it with a title victory at Roland Garros (2009 being the only year when he had to relinquish the title). Such was the dominance of the Spaniard that the slogan “Certainties in life: Death, Taxes and Nadal winning the French Open” became viral on the social media after his victory last year. But the finals of this year’s French Open will not feature a familiar face biting the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
Nadal vs Djokovic turns out to be bit of an anti climax as the Serb records a straight sets victory over Nadal
It was dubbed to be the greatest quarterfinal in recent tennis history but the Nadal vs Djokovic didnt quite live up to the standards their rivalry has set. The World number 1 Novak Djokovic overcame the biggest challenge in tennis -defeating Rafael Nadal on a clay court in Paris. By defeating the 9 time champ Nadal, Djokovic not only progressed to a semi finals he also became just the second man after Robin Soderling who can boast of having beaten Nadal at Roland Garros.
The match could’nt had started more dramatically with Novak bamboozling Nadal to take a 4-0 lead, given Rafa’s dogy form and Novak’s ruthless attacking one could have been forgiven for thinking a first set bagel was on the cards for the birthday boy Nadal. But this was Rafael Nadal’s domain, a place where he was 71-1 prior to today’s match and he was’nt going to go without a fight he broke Djokovic twice to level the match at 4-all but the Serbinator who has had some epic encounters with Nadal recaptured the momentum just in the nick of time to get a decisive break in the 12th game. From then on Nadal was just playing catching up game with the Djoker as he closed out the match with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 scoreline.
Whats next for both players
Novak Djokovic: The 28 year old can add defeating Nadal at Roland Garros in his resume, he know has the chance of becoming just the eighth player to complete a career grandslam and with the form he is showing this season who knows maybe even a calender Grand Slam is on the cards as well. Djokovic next faces Britain’s hope Andy Murray for a place in the finals
Rafael Nadal: A quater final loss means Rafa will loose valuable ATP points which will see him slip to the 10th spot once the ATP rankings are released on Monday. Which in effect means he could face his arch rivals Djokovic, Federer and Murray as early as the fourth round of Wimbledon.
