Djokovic loses Federer-Nadal clash
While Roger Federer may have conceded the final match of the French Open to Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic also lost out on an opportunity to take the number one spot in the ATP rankings.
- Shubhodeep Chakravarty
- Updated: June 06, 2011 09:11 AM IST
While Roger Federer may have conceded the final match of the French Open to Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic also lost out on an opportunity to take the number one spot in the ATP rankings.
A lot was at stake when the World Number 1 Nadal took to the court to try and claim his sixth French Open title. Federer too was not short of reasons, apart from glory, to halt the Spaniard and win his 16th Grand Slam title. Such is the sport however that in Federer's eventual loss, Djokovic failed to get a free pass to the top of the rankings list, which would have been his first.
Nadal has been dominating on the court as well as the rankings with only one loss in seven years at the Roland Garros and a number one title claimed as far back as in 2008. Djokovic on the other hand has had wins and records to have made him a worthy successor to Nadal. An impressive 43 win-on-the-trot record which was only broken by Federer in the semi-final match at Paris, elevated him both in rankings as well as stature.
The final match, although did not figure the Serb, had fans of Djokovic rooting for Federer. It however, was not meant to be as Nadal proved he still has enough left in him to retain his rank and title as the king of clay. Djoko though as is already evident from his tweets, will be hopeful of launching an attack again in the time to come. "Thank you all for the support. Grass court short season coming up. Looking forward to Wimbledon," he said on the micro-blogging site after his exit from the French Open.