One step to the final: An absentee drives Nadal and Djokovic

Djokovic will face the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, Nadal will face the US Open winner Diego Schwartzman from Argentina. A step for the Spaniard Nadal to catch up with the Grand Slam record holder Federer. A step for the Serbian Djokovic (currently 17 Grand Slam titles) to shorten the gap to Nadal (19) and Federer (20). And of course a step to help this last Grand Slam tournament of the Corona year reach a final that can either be called the dream or the giant final. Wants to get closer to Rafael Nadal when it comes to the Grand Slam title: Novak Djokovic. © APA/afp / MARTIN BUREAU

Until the quarter-finals, neither Nadal nor Djokovic gave up a set; Djokovic caused the biggest upset when he lost a return in the first set in the round of 16 against the Russian Karen Khachanov a linesman with the ball in his face met. Memories immediately came back to the US Open, when Djokovic hit a ball backwards out of anger in his round of 16 against the Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta and hit a lines judge and was disqualified. This time, however, he was not to blame and there were no consequences.

Nadal, on the other hand, seems carefree. He left Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals In the end, they had no chance and only had something to complain about with the game plan and the late start of the game and a nightly press conference at two in the morning. The decision to forgo the trip to the US Open in New York seems to have been the right one for Nadal. Will Schwartzman become a spoilsport? Even though Nadal recently lost to Schwartzman in Rome, there is no doubt about the twelve-time Roland Garros triumphant's status as favorite. The record against the Argentine, who is only 1,70 meters tall, is 9:1. “I'm not sure I'll have a lot of confidence,” Schwartzman said with a smile after his Coup against the Austrian Dominic Thiem.

In fact, there is a lot to be said for Nadal taking part in the final again: form, statistics, prospect of records. Nadal has lost exactly two of 100 matches at the French Open so far. He is aiming for his 13th Roland Garros title and, with a possible success in the final, his 100th individual victory there. And of course the 20th Grand Slam title.

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One step to the final: An absentee drives Nadal and Djokovic

Perhaps the most important motivator for Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic's title hunt is not there at all. The Swiss veteran Roger Federer has long since ended his 2020 tennis season after knee surgery. When the semi-finals take place in Paris on Friday, his opponents are only one step away.

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