23. 05. 2009. · Photo by Roland Garros Official Site
A week after worrying claycourt king Rafael Nadal in Madrid, Novak Djokovic feels he has what it takes to clinch the French Open at the expense of the world number one.
Spaniard Nadal, who is undefeated at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005, lost in the Madrid Masters final to Swiss Roger Federer a day after saving three match points against Djokovic in a four-hour tussle.
“The semi-final against Rafa in Madrid gave me even more self belief that I might win in our next encounter,” the world number four told reporters on Friday.
The fourth-seeded Djokovic, who has lost to Nadal in the semi-final of the French Open for the past two years, will not be in the champion’s half of the draw.
Instead, Djokovic could face Federer in the last four, leaving him to hope Nadal’s semi-final opponent would repeat the favour he did for the Swiss in Madrid.
“I have not seen the match, but they told me he (Nadal) wasn’t moving quite well. I mean, obviously because of the long match we had played the day before,” the 2008 Australian Open champion said.
However, Djokovic was aware of the size of the task facing him if he is to depose Nadal in Paris.
“If you talk about my matches on this claycourt season against Rafa, basically looking at each match I am getting closer and closer,” he said.
“So there is only one more point to go. But it’s not that easy. Again, I’m saying I played probably one of the best matches in my life against him on clay, even though I lost it.”
Source: Reuters
