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Novak Djokovic looks concerned at French Open 2020
Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Tennis News

‘Novak Djokovic now has questions to answer at Australian Open,’ says Mats Wilander


Novak Djokovic may struggle for motivation at the Australian Open after losing the French Open final to Rafael Nadal, says Mats Wilander.

Djokovic was well-beaten by Nadal 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 as he was powerless to prevent the Spaniard from equalling the record 20 Grand Slam title haul of Roger Federer.

The result sees Djokovic lagging behind with 17 titles, and Wilander believes that, despite Djokovic having more years left in him, Nadal is now the favourite to win the GOAT race.

“Novak’s body and his game is more modern [than Nadal’s] and I think he can stay longer,” Eurosport expert Wilander said.

“Of course, it will hurt his confidence not having won at the US Open and then this defeat.

“But now he goes into training for the Australian Open where he becomes clear favourite – and he knows if he wins three Majors next year, which we predict every year will do, then he is up at 20 as well.

“The question is emotionally whether he is as emotionally involved as he has been over the last two years. That’s the question I’d love to have answered in Australia.

On Nadal, though, Wilander was much more positive about his chances.

“I think today tells us that Rafa Nadal most probably has the best chance to go down as the greatest male tennis player of all-time.

“We have our doubts about Roger Federer of course, he can still win another one because he’s a genius.

“With Novak Djokovic being three behind now, he still has a good chance. With Rafa winning here now, it is probably giving him a couple of years to keep on going.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.