French Open 2020: I was probably rushing a bit too much – Novak Djokovic

The French Open 2020 finals between World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and World No. 2 Rafael Nadal turned out to be a one-sided affair. Nadal dismantled Djokovic in straight sets by 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 as the southpaw clinched his 13th French Open title. This was also the 20th Grand Slam title for Rafael Nadal as he equalled Roger Federer’s tally.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic was not able to put up a fight against Nadal. It was not expected as Djokovic is one of the best players in the world and had recently won the Italian Open. However, Djokovic admitted his mistakes after the match.

The Serbian stated he was probably rushing a bit too much. The right-hander was trying to go for winners and win the small rallies but it didn’t work out as planned. Furthermore, the Serb could not find success on his drop shots as Nadal had done his homework.

“[The dropshot] didn’t work great today, let’s say. [Nadal] was winning a lot of those dropshot points that were played by my side. I didn’t play so many at the end of the day. I did try tactically different things, but not much worked in the first two sets”, Djokovic stated. 

On the other hand, Djokovic could only win 77 points as compared to the 106 won by Nadal. Djokovic didn’t show the patience which was needed and he made a lot of unforced errors.

In fact, Nole made four double faults, which was surprising to note. However, all the credit goes to Rafael Nadal who pushed Djokovic on the ropes in every point of the game.

Nadal won the first set comprehensively by 6-0 and then took a 2-0 lead after winning the second by 6-4. Djokovic didn’t look like making any sort of comeback as Nadal clinched the third set by 7-5 to win his 20th Grand Slam title. This is the fourth time when Nadal has won a Grand Slam title without even dropping a single set throughout the tournament.

“I was probably rushing a bit much, trying to play shorter points, probably go for winners. I probably wasn’t constructing the points well. That reflected on the result. But that was also caused by [Rafael Nadal], by his amazing defense. [Rafael Nadal] was getting a lot of balls back. Normally all the shots that I play after two, three quick exchanges from the back of the court, when I hit it against nine out of ten guys, it’s a winner, the point is done. But not against him.” 

This was the 100th win for Rafael Nadal at the Roland Garros. He has only lost two matches in the French Open.