Breaking and setting new records has become something of a habit for the Serbian composition of the Big Three, Novak Djokovic. While he seems well on his way to becoming the sole holder of many of the biggest records in tennis, records on clay are usually reserved for the King Rafael Nadal. And if you narrow that down to just the Roland Garros, there aren’t even slim pickings left for anyone else. So when someone does manage to steal a bit of clay history from Nadal, it is certainly worthy of note. And Djokovic is set to do just that, which will surely see him cement his place as the second-best clay player of the generation.
Last year at the clay Major Djokovic had set up a quarter final clash with eventual champion Rafa, losing out in 4 sets in a well-engineered victory by Nadal. That quarter final appearance marked both players’ 16th in the Paris Major. That’s right, Djokovic has astonishingly managed to keep toe-to-toe with the Spaniard. Of course, the results and statistics take a drastically different route after the quarter finals in each players case. But it is a record worth being proud of for the Serbian and he is now on the verge of bettering it further.
Novak Djokovic to surpass Rafa Nadal?
Novak Djokovic has made a statement of intent with three emphatic wins in his first three rounds in Paris. The last one of which came against a very good clay player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, a player who’d beaten Nole in Monte Carlo just last year. With this, the 22-time Grand Slam winner has set up a clash with Peruvian No. 1 Juan Pablo Varillas for a place in another quarter final. If he succeeds, this will mark Novak’s 17th quarter final appearance at the French Open, one more than his greatest challenger Rafael Nadal.
With Rafa out of this edition of the French Open, Djokovic has an opportunity to surpass the Spaniard for the most quarter final appearances in Paris in the Open Era. This is an astonishing feat to say the least given just how utterly dominant Nadal has always been in his favorite tournament. To manage as many, or soon to be more barring a miracle, quarter final appearances as the great clay King more or less seals his status as the second best player to set foot on clay in the last two decades.
And given the kind of company he is keeping in this generation, Djokovic surely also makes a case for himself to be amongst the greatest clay players of the Open Era, with the exception of Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg of course.
To further make his case, Djokovic is the only man to have lifted multiple French Open titles despite plying the trade during Nadal’s reign. He has beaten the Spaniard twice at the French Open, another feat only he has managed.
