Novak Djokovic faces mounting pressure as he chases career Grand Slam
PARIS — For the fifth consecutive year, Novak Djokovic entered the French Open hoping to complete the career Grand Slam — winning all four of tennis’ majors — and for the fifth time, the Serbian is into the quarterfinals here while trying to do so.
This is the business end of the tournament, the part where every match is viewed under a media microscope and each victory — or so Djokovic hopes — puts him one step closer to finally closing a chapter of history he’s been chasing since 2012.
Does the pressure mounted on the world No. 1 player's shoulders grow as he progresses in the draw?
“You feel it, honestly,” said Carlos Moya, the former world No. 1 and 1998 champion here. “Even for him, as a great champion, mentally he’s such a strong player. You feel it. He’s human. In the end, I think he felt it last year.”
Last year Djokovic wrote the first six chapters of his Roland Garros run nearly perfectly, including a first-ever win over Rafael Nadal at this tournament in the quarterfinals. But it was Stan Wawrinka, the free-swinging Swiss man, who stopped him in the final, a four-set winner as Djokovic left Paris once again without his name etched on this tournament’s coveted cup.
This year, there is no Nadal left (he pulled out with a wrist injury last week), nor is there the looming Roger Federer, who missed his first major since 1999 with a bad back. But Wawrinka still lingers, as does Andy Murray, the world No. 2, who beat Djokovic two weeks ago in the Rome final.
Djokovic, 29, is staying his course, however. He’s been in the final three out of the four times he’s had the chance to close the Slam here, and in 2013 he and Nadal played an epic match in the semifinals.
“There is nothing particular major that I'm going to switch or change compared to previous years in terms of preparation,” Djokovic said Wednesday of his business-end mindset. “This year we have a particular situation because of the weather, so I’m going to try to get as much rest as possible and not get distracted by too many things outside [of the court].”
Should the skies allow it, Djokovic will play four best-of-five-set matches over five days. The tournament has yet to consider moving the men’s final to Monday.
Djokovic is experienced in nearly every scenario at this point in his career, but the one thing he’s yet to do is hoist this trophy, something he’s favored to do.
“If he’s being honest with himself and playing his best, he should win the French Open,” former world No. 4 James Blake said. “But you have to go out and play. He has to handle the nerves of the semifinals and the finals and knowing at that point it could be history-making. He’d also be two steps to the calendar Grand Slam. It’s been almost been 20 years since we’ve seen the Australian-French double for a man. The pressure is on him no matter what he does.”
Jim Courier was the last man to win both the Australian Open and French Open in one year, back in 1992. The American then lost in the third round of Wimbledon.
“In the last decade the issue has been Rafa,” Courier said, referring to Nadal’s nine titles here in the last 11 years. “He has dominated the second leg of the calendar Slam. It is quite surprising that muti-surface legends like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have not been able to win the first two legs of the Slam yet, but I suspect Novak will do it this year.”
Djokovic now has to take things match by match. In the quarterfinals he faces Tomas Berdych, the No. 7 seed, a player he has a crushing 23-2 head-to-head record against, including the last 10 matches (over three years).
“Novak sees this as a big opportunity now that Rafa is kind of out of his way since he was supposed to play him in the semifinals,” noted Barbara Schett, a former player and Eurosport commentator. “Djokovic is going to feel more pressure now, and that’s normal, but how is he going to handle it? His big goal is to win here.”
Martina Navratilova remembers trying to complete her career Slam in 1983 at the U.S. Open. She said it’s more of a challenge for Djokovic here compared to what Serena Williams is trying to do, which is tie Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 major titles.
“His obstacle is the pressure here,” said Navratilova, a Tennis Channel commentator. “Barring Wawrinka happening to him again, if he stays healthy, it’s his tournament to win. Look at what Serena is going for … she’s got four shots at it a year to get to No. 22 or higher. Novak’s only got one French Open. Everybody handles pressure differently.”
She continued: “Each year the pressure gets stronger, yes, but each match … It doesn’t really, I don’t think. Once you’re in the tournament, you don’t feel it that much. He is so intent on winning each match that you don’t really think about it. It’s more the terrifying thought of not winning the tournament. It’s thinking about those questions for another year. It’s something he want to put behind him, really.”
Djokovic, asked at the start of the tournament if he could ever imagine not winning here said that yes, he could.
“I can, because so far it hasn't happened,” he said, laughing. “So I'm imagining it every day. But I'm also imagining myself, you know, being the winner. Let's see what life has organized for me.”
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