22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal is currently back home putting efforts in his pre-season drills and will be back in action in a couple of weeks in Australia. He will play a tune-up tournament before defending his all-important Australian Open title.
Recently in an interview, Nadal spoke about his arch-nemesis Novak Djokovic’s chances at the Australian Open. Djokovic missed the 2022 Australian Open due to his vaccination status but is cleared to play in 2023 despite being unvaccinated. The Serb is the most successful tennis player at Melbourne Park and will be the favorite once again despite missing the last edition.
Nadal said that Djokovic will obviously be one of the strong favorites since he has won the tournament 9 times but also added that there are many young and upcoming players who can possess a serious threat. He said that the young guns will push him and Djokovic since it’s an open tournament.
“Obviously, someone who has won a tournament 9 times is a candidate. But there are many young people who push and they are open tournaments,” Nadal said in ‘El Larguero’ with Manu Carreño.
Can Novak Djokovic equal Rafael Nadal’s record in Melbourne?
Novak Djokovic is a 9-time Australian Open champion and will look to become only the second person after Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros to win a single major 10 or 10+ times. He didn’t play at the tournament and despite that, will be one of the huge favorites to win it for the 10th time.
He had a great end to the 2022 season where he won the Paris Masters and finished runner-up at the ATP Finals. If he wins the Australian Open, he will equal Nadal’s tally of 22 major titles and the duo will head into the French Open with 22 Grand Slam titles. Djokovic, however, will most likely be seeded outside the Top 4 and will want to avoid Nadal in the quarterfinals.
