Dominic Thiem's verdict on Novak Djokovic's Calendar Slam chances and Rafael Nadal's French Open hopes - exclusive

Dominic Thiem has given his verdict on Novak Djokovic’s chances of winning the Calendar Slam this year – and picked out which “four or five” players could stop him and Rafael Nadal from sweeping the Grand Slams. Djokovic came close to becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four majors in the same year when he won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon in 2021, but then lost to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final.

Ad The 35-year-old, who is not playing at Indian Wells this week as he can’t travel to the United States due to being unvaccinated, has already won the Australian Open this season. Roland-GarrosExclusive: Nadal could produce 'ridiculous level' to win French Open again — Ruud4 HOURS AGO But how likely is it that he will win all the remaining three majors? Former US Open champion Thiem told Eurosport and Casper Ruud’s that Djokovic and Nadal are still the top players to beat at the majors, but there are now several strong challengers.

“I have the feeling that there are many players now who can beat those two guys [Djokovic and Nadal],” said Thiem. “There are great guys there, but obviously, also those two, three when Roger [Federer] was there, they were still one level above all the others, especially in the Slams, especially when it came to the best-of-five.

“For the whole tennis world it would be nice to see one last showdown in Roland-Garros, obviously, but Novak will still be the man to beat in the Grand Slams in 2023. “The only tournament is Roland-Garros: if Rafael is fit there, it's exactly the opposite.

He's the man to beat, obviously, when he won the tournament 14 times, it's crazy. “But if you see the performance of Novak at the Australian Open, which was incredible, he's