Grand Slam number 21 for Nadal, will he become the best player in history?

Rafael Nadal did it. In the final of the Australian Open he performed a great turnaround against Daniil Medvedev and reached a record 21st career Grand Slam. With this triumph, he became alone in the table of titles won, no other player has more titles to his credit. How many more grand slams can Nadal win? What about Djokovic and Federer? The chase for tennis immortality continues.

Roland Garros – a 22nd title for Nadal?

The Spanish player is in great form at the beginning of the season, his tennis shows great quality. After the Australian Open title, it seems that winning another Grand Slam is only a matter of time. He can achieve this historic record during the next Grand Slam – on clay at Roland Garros.

This tournament is his favourite Grand Slam, he has already triumphed 13 times in Paris. He will have a great chance to win the title this time as well and should be one of the biggest favourites for the overall triumph. His biggest rival should be Novak Djokovic, but there is a question mark over the Serb’s start. If he doesn’t inoculate himself, he won’t be able to participate in the second Grand Slam of the season.

Medvedev or Zverev are not that strong on clay, Tsitsipas has not yet matured into a champion. So another triumph of Nadal at Roland Garros is highly probable. 22 grand slams may not be the final in his case. Although he is already 35 years old, he clearly confirmed at the Australian Open that his performance still has high parameters. If his body does not betray him like Roger Federer, winning more grand slams is definitely possible.

Vaccinations versus Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is the best tennis player of today. Despite not participating in the Australian Open, he dominates the tennis rankings, especially last season he had a great season. He won 3 Grand Slams in 2021, failing only at the US Open. He would be one of the biggest favourites during the opening Grand Slam of the season. However, his participation in the Australian Open was conditional on having undergone vaccinations, which Djokovic did not meet. Therefore, he could not compete in his favourite tournament.

In his case, there is a clear question. Will Djokovic overcome his ego to chase Nadal in the Grand Slam hunt? After all, it is quite possible that in a few months he will have to deal with the exact same problem.

The Roland Garros management has already announced that only players who have been successfully inoculated with the coronavirus vaccine will be allowed to play in the tournament. And it is quite likely that the same conditions will also apply at Wimbledon and the US Open.

So it’s up to Djokovic to decide how he’s going to behave. In terms of game and performance he is unbeatable, he can still win several grand slams.

However, if he doesn’t inoculate himself, he will miss another tennis year that could have been similarly fruitful as it was in 2021. And that would be a huge missed opportunity for him and the tennis world. It would also make his fight to become the greatest tennis king in history much harder.

Will Roger Federer’s tennis farewell end with a happy ending?

The end of the Swiss tennis career is not going as ideally as he would probably like. This is mainly due to the numerous health problems that began to affect him on the threshold of his forties. You just can’t stop age, especially the sporting one.

He had to undergo several difficult operations because of a painful knee. His next comeback should take place in the summer, when he plans his participation in Wimbledon.

It is quite possible that it will be his Grand Slam debut. Another grand slam win is highly unrealistic, his collection will probably stop at number 20. It would be great if this tennis legend could say goodbye to his career with a nice Grand Slam result. Only time will tell if that will happen.

Source:: WTA, Twitter