Rafa Nadal Roberto Carballes Baena France Spain Serbia Australia Melbourne Rafa Nadal Roberto Carballes Baena France Spain Serbia Australia Melbourne

Nadal's exit opens up Grand Slam window of opportunity for Djokovic

channelnewsasia.com

Novak Djokovic is already back in the good books at the Australian Open after a perfect start to his campaign and will be fancying his chances of equalling Rafa Nadal's record of 22 Grand Slam wins at a major where he has ruled with an iron fist.Nine-times champion Djokovic was denied a title defence last year for not being vaccinated against COVID-19 and Nadal won the major in his absence, but the Serbian picked up where he left off with an imperious first-round win on Tuesday.Nadal's injury-plagued defeat in the second round will be another boost for Djokovic, who can grab a record-extending 10th crown as well as the world number one ranking with a title run in Melbourne."They're just numbers at the end of the day," Djokovic said when asked about the targets in his sights. "I've been in the situations before where I've played for really big historic things...

I know how to handle it. Let's see how far I can go."It's important to try to get as close as possible to the balance between using possibilities and achievements out there as a goal-setting type of motivation, that will drive you as a guiding star."But at the same time, balance it with an everyday task so that you have to accomplish in a proper way in order to stay in the present moment, which is when you are able to perform your best - at least in my case."Djokovic's dominant 6-3 6-4 6-0 win over Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena is not the only positive he is taking before Thursday's match against French qualifier Enzo Couacaud.The 35-year-old's tournament preparation was limited due to a left hamstring injury sustained during his title run in Adelaide, and he conceded he had some concerns before his opening round win."I was kind of testing my leg a little

Related News
The Australian Open set a Grand Slam attendance record with more than 900,000 spectators visiting over three weeks, organisers said on Tuesday (Jan 31), despite the absence of some big-name players and schedule disruptions due to rain.
The Australian Open set a Grand Slam attendance record with more than 900,000 spectators visiting over three weeks, organisers said on Tuesday, despite the absence of some big-name players and schedule disruptions due to rain.
MELBOURNE : Novak Djokovic said shedding tears in his players' box following victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open final on Sunday was the result of an emotional collapse following his huge display of mental strength in a challenging fortnight.
MELBOURNE : Stefanos Tsitsipas dreamed of holding the Australian Open trophy aloft after nodding off on the eve of Sunday's final but Novak Djokovic ended up giving the confident Greek a rude awakening.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.