Before the match, Nadal made a point of highlighting how different their current situations were from Djokovic’s, who, despite his extraordinary struggles this season, had advanced to the Wimbledon final and was in Paris.
Although Djokovic’s right knee, which required surgery after he slipped at the French Open, was still wrapped up, he easily defeated Nadal in the first set and a half, outlasting his opponent Matt Ebden, a doubles specialist who hadn’t played a singles match in two years.
Although Djokovic was more adept at speed, accuracy, and sharpness, he lost focus when his lead seemed insurmountable, which gave Nadal the opportunity to regain momentum. The Spaniard thrilled his supporters by winning four straight games, the final one being decided when he sent a smash back at his opponent’s feet before overtaking him.
However, Djokovic broke serve again right away, drawing loud jeers from the pro-Nadal audience for cupping his ear, and he eventually won with an ace.
“I was not able to have to put him in difficult positions, I was not able to have enough quality shots, enough quality of movements,” Nadal said, not hiding the outcome.
He performed far better than I did from the start to the finish. I had a few points of reaction. However, that was obviously insufficient.”
Djokovic now leads the rivalry 31-29 and hopes to create a few more chapters. He will next face Dominik Koepfer of Germany.
“I just hope, for the sake of our rivalry and the sport in general, that we’ll get to face each other once or maybe a few times on different surfaces, in different parts of the world, because I feel like it can only benefit the sport,” he stated.
“Every game we play is a gift, both to the sport and to us. I hope the best for him. He is without a doubt one of the most significant personalities in our sport and in sports in general. I believe that tennis wins more the more he plays.”