Greg Rusedski thinks Rafael Nadal’s confidence would have been completely destroyed – Tennis News
Great Britain’s former number two, Greg Rusedski, believes that Rafael Nadal would have been mentally destroyed by the loss in French Open final.
Nadal had already lost three straight Grand Slam finals to the Serbian juggernaut, Novak Djokovic and a fourth successive loss would have completely damaged Nadal’s confidence.
Rusedski said, “It makes everything exciting, as had Nadal lost that, Djokovic would have held all four slams, and Nadal’s confidence would have been completely destroyed. He was really nervous in that match. It was the first time
that you saw him look so excited during his celebrations.”
The Brit added, “He was excited about the seven French Open titles, but it was also relief and joy because he wasn’t sure that he was going to win. All the other finals, he was really positive. Never before had we seen Rafa lose
eight games in a row on clay. That just doesn’t happen.”
The Spaniard lost seven straight finals at the hands of his new arch rival, taking his head to record against Djokovic to 16-14, which was 16-7 at the start of 2011.
Talking about the Majors, the Serbian snatched Nadal’s Wimbledon title by beating him in four sets 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in the final. Then he deprived the Spaniard from his US Open crown by again toppling him in four sets in the
title match. After that, Nadal and Djokovic featured in the longest Grand Slam final in the tennis history at the Australian Open, which was again won by the Serbian.
Djokovic had maintained lead throughout the Wimbledon and US Open finals. However, Nadal went into the driving seat in the final set at the Australian Open but then again the Serbian went on a killing spree and grabbed the title.
After losing the final showdown in Melbourne Park, Nadal became the only player to lose three consecutive Grand Slam title matches to the same player.
The French Open final was the most anticipated match between these two, as both players were going for records. Djokovic was looking to become the second player in open era to hold all four Majors at the same time. On the other
hand, Nadal was aiming to become the first player to win seven Roland Garros titles.
Nadal has now won three finals in a row against the Serbian, as he had also beaten the latter in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and Internazionali BNL d’Italia title matches right before the French Open.
Rusedski thinks that Nadal would not be the favourite to win the Wimbledon Championships but he anticipates that there would be a re-match between these two at the All England Club.
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