‘Things are changing’ – Novak Djokovic says it is ‘nice’ that ‘greatest rival’ Rafael Nadal in draw – Madrid Diary
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Updated 04/05/2022 at 10:55 GMT
The Madrid Open represents the first time that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are contesting the same tournament since Roland-Garros last year. The world No. 1 told Reem Abulleil that it is “nice” that his “greatest rival of all time” Nadal is in the draw. Watch the French Open live on Eurosport and discovery+.
'His fighting spirit is really inspiring' - Djokovic on Murray ahead of Madrid Open meeting
Djokovic says it’s ‘nice’ to share a draw again with Nadal
It’s not easy to surprise Novak Djokovic with a stat or a tennis fact.
The world No.1 is usually very clued up when it comes to the happenings on tour, whether he’s been on the road or back home, and he stays up-to-date with all the information on up-and-coming players as well as his fellow veterans.
So, when I mentioned to him that this week in Madrid is the first time since Roland-Garros last year that he and Rafael Nadal are contesting the same tournament, I did not expect Djokovic to not be aware of that fact.
Djokovic said he hadn’t realised that was the case before answering the question of how Nadal’s presence in the same draw actually affects him.
“Of course, it affects, because he's my greatest rival of all time,” said the Serb.
“You're right. I mean, I wasn't thinking about this, but we have not been in the same draw for a while. You know, things are changing.
“We have young players, and we are both trying to do our best to compete for the top spots of the world. I think we are still going strong, so it's nice to see that.”
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Djokovic rates win over Monfils as his "best performance of the year"
Sara fulfils promise to Carla
“Wow, mucha gente,” Sara Sorribes Tormo said as she walked into a packed press conference room after booking herself a spot in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The affable Spaniard is making her 10th appearance at the tournament and made it past the second round for the first time this year.
Her win over Daria Kasatkina saw her become just the fourth Spanish woman to make the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open, joining Carla Suarez Navarro, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Paula Badosa.
Suarez Navarro, who retired from tennis last year, urged Sorribes Tormo ahead of the tournament to go deep and the Castellon native did not disappoint.
“Carla was in my house before I came to this tournament. She came to see Villarreal and to stay a few days with me. She told me, ‘You have to arrive to day four in Madrid because I'm coming to day four,” Sorribes Tormo revealed in her press conference.
“Every day she's telling me, ‘Yeah, less days, less days’, and today when I finished the match, I told her, ‘Come, please’. She's saying, ‘Yeah, I'm arriving, I'm arriving’. That's very nice for me, as well.”
Sorribes Tormo has had a brutal road to the last-eight, starting with a three-setter against Roland Garros runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a straight-sets win over four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, before her 6-4 1-6 6-3 success over Kasatkina.
The 25-year-old is known for her incredible resilience, and is often involved in some of the longest matches on tour. It is something that has earned her lots of respect from her peers, but also made her one of the players they want to face the least.
Does she take pride in having such a reputation?
“That's something [Kirsten] Flipkens, my doubles partner, is always telling me, and I don't believe it. So now she's telling me, ‘Are you going to believe any day, or what are you going to do?’” replied Sorribes Tormo.
“The most important thing is that of course I feel my game is difficult for them because not many players are playing this type of game. But what I really feel is I have to improve.”
‘I need very little’
One thing Sorribes Tormo does not waste her time thinking about is how much attention she is getting or not getting from the Spanish press or her home crowd.
“I'm happy with what I have. I think that each one of us needs something different, and I need very little,” she said with palpable sincerity.
“I just need to be happy, to have my family around, my relatives around. I feel very privileged and very fortunate to do what I do every single day. So, it's not much more that I am worried about.
“If people talk about me, don't talk about me, support me or not, I just go out there on the court, I compete, and I'm happy with that. Whatever comes, thank you.”
Most GIF-able moment of the day
Jessica Pegula could not believe how many break points she failed to convert in her opening set against Bianca Andreescu when she saw the stats sheet on the big screen on court.
The American No.12 seed missed 14/17 break point opportunities and when she sat at her bench between sets, waiting for Andreescu to return from a toilet break, she looked at her coach David Witt and just started counting repeatedly on her fingers, resulting in this very meme-able moment.
“I saw I was three for 17 on break points, which is an insane stat, that’s got to be a record or something up there. For the total of the match, I don’t even… it was crazy,” said Pegula after advancing to the quarter-finals in straight sets.
“I was wondering if it was a meme. I went three, four, and then I just kept going and my coach was laughing. I didn’t realise it was that many, so I was actually in shock.”
Star power at the Magic Box
The Caja Magica tends to host many celebrities and sports stars each year and on Tuesday, two familiar faces showed up to catch some tennis: Former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas as well as Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso.
With Real Madrid players busy prepping for a huge Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday night, they haven’t turned up for the tennis just yet. But we can expect some of them to pay a visit from Thursday onwards.
Stat of the day
Miomir Kecmanovic hit ZERO unforced errors in his 6-4 7-5 victory over Alexander Bublik on Tuesday, compared to the 37 his opponent committed. Clean tennis like that will certainly come in handy against Rafael Nadal in the next round.
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