The first major tennis tournament of the season, the Australian Open, kicks off.
Rafael Nadal (2nd place, Spain) and Novak Djokovic (5th place, Serbia), who are competing for the ‘best player of all time’ after Roger Federer (Switzerland) retired, are predicting a more heated competition than ever.
The Australian Open kicks off on the 16th in Melbourne, Australia. With world number one Carlos Alcaras (Spain) absent due to injury, people’s attention is focused on Nadal and Djokovic’s competition for the championship of the century.
Nadal, who holds the all-time record with 22 career major victories, hopes to extend his record to 23 in this event. Nadal, who surpassed Federer’s record of 20 victories by winning the Australian Open and the French Open last year, is actually not in a good pace recently. As the aftereffects of a torn abdominal muscle sustained at Wimbledon last year have been prolonged, the pace is not recovering. Starting with the round of 16 at the US Open last year, the record in the last 7 official matches is only 1 win and 6 losses. In the United Cup, a national competition between men and women launched this year, Alex DeMino (24th, Australia) and Cameron Norrie (12th, England) were caught in the ankle.
But Nadal is still eager to win. “I haven’t played at my level in the last few tournaments,” he recently told reporters in Melbourne. But I feel like I’m in good shape. I am confident,” he said, not hiding his confidence.
Unlike Nadal, whose pace has been unstable lately, Djokovic’s momentum is sky-high. Djokovic, who was unable to participate in the Australian Open last year due to not being vaccinated against Corona 19, was able to participate this year as the Australian government eased Corona 19 regulations.메이저사이트
Djokovic, who won 21 major championships in his career, was particularly strong in this tournament, winning 9 times in the Australian Open alone. If he wins this time, he will become the second player in history to win 10 times in a single major tournament, following Nadal who won 14 times at the French Open, and will stand shoulder to shoulder with Nadal’s record of most major championships.
In November of last year, Djokovic, who won his 6th career title at the ATP Finals, the match of kings of the men’s professional tennis (ATP), standing shoulder to shoulder with Federer’s record for most wins, reached the top at the Adelaide International, which ended on the 8th, and showed peak pace. Denis Shapovalov (22nd, Canada) and Danil Medvedev (8th, Russia), who were younger than Djokovic, showed off their skills to the extent that they could not use their strength properly.
However, according to local news, it is known that Djokovic stopped the game after feeling pain in his left hamstring during a practice match against Medvedev on the 11th, raising concerns. Djokovic suffered a hamstring soreness during the match at Adelaide International.