ALEX CORRETJA PREVIEWS 2020 ROLAND-GARROS

Obviously Novak has recovered as you would expect a champion to recover, did that surprise you, how well he’s recovered, business as usual for him?
I am absolutely amazed at what he did.  What happened in New York, he was absolutely in an unfortunate situation and dealing with everything he’s been through, understanding that he lost an unbelievable chance to keep on adding Slams, going back to Europe and preparing to play on clay in just a few days and be capable to win in Rome.

It’s something that shows that Djokovic is much tougher mentally than we even thought.  It’s big what he did, very big.  I really feel it was. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react after what happened in New York. Taking away the fact that some people will go, oh let’s see how he feels at Roland-Garros. If he would have stayed at home and not prepared then he will have had so much pressure, so much pressure.  Right now, I think he feels he can win Roland-Garros again. 

When he finished in New York, probably he just wanted to dig down in a big hole and disappear from life but after he took hours or a couple of days, here we are.  It’s unbelievable, unbelievable, all the credit to him.

Rafa Nadal is the favourite of course, but perhaps not as clear a favourite as in the past but surely Novak has now got himself in the conversation again now in terms of a potential winner?
Yes, definitely yes.  For Rafa, it will be a matter of how he feels after the first few days and how can he prove he can raise his level in the first few rounds in order to be ready to face the big opponents in the second week which has never happened before.

I think the draw will be very important for Novak because it depends which kind of players he will face. He will have rhythm in a way or in another but I definitely feel he is going to be, if not the toughest guy even with Rafa.

Who is the favourite?
I will put Rafa first because it’s Rafa and because of everything he’s done but if we think about the moment, I believe Thiem goes to Roland-Garros with a better rhythm, even if he hasn’t played on clay in the last few but he played those exhibitions. Winning the Open for him should be a big relief, it should be something that he thinks that he can do so in my feeling it is a little bit Rafa, then it’s Thiem and then I will put a little bit lower,Novak because of the way he plays on clay, etc. 

I think Rafa and Thiem play the best tennis on clay, they have a little bit of something more than Novak to hurt. 

The conditions are going to be a little bit different, will that affect Rafa at all?
I do, I think it’s a big key, it’s a big factor.  It’s a fact, as I said before it’s not an excuse, it’s a reality that the way he plays, he prefers to play in warmer conditions because his ball bounce way higher, that is something that we all know. 

Saying that, of course he needs to adapt just like everyone else.  The conditions are the same for everyone but, it depends on the conditions, sometimes it helps your game and sometimes it helps other kinds of games. Rafa, the kind of game he plays, he likes the warm conditions and I doubt that he is going to find many of those conditions. Thiem, he plays a little bit like a Spanish style let’s say, with heavy topspin, big kick, big forehand but it is a little more heavy, a little bit more powerful one. 

Thiem is very strong and physically he is working hard so even if it’s heavy, even though he likes the bounce also higher, I think he’s got such a huge potential on his game that it is going to be worse for his opponents than for him, let’s say.

From what you saw in New York was it the veterans or was it the younger players coming through who have coped better since the lockdown restrictions were lifted?
From what I saw, I think it definitely affected all of them because some of the young ones, they still don’t know where they are, they still feel that they don’t get what’s going on and for the veterans, we also can see how much it affected them, such as Novak. 

It created so much pressure for him knowing that he had a good chance, knowing that he needs to get that moment, that he couldn’t control himself as he wanted and that also comes from the feeling that you haven’t played for so long that you are losing the feeling with the ball and you are not as happy as you used to be and you are not used to it. 

It didn’t benefit anyone, it hurt everyone. You can see the players, they are all more nervous than normal, they are more insecure, they are not moving as well, they are not as fluid as they used to be and it is because of the lack of matches.  It is not because they have lost their tennis, their tennis is there, it’s just that you don’t feel as good and especially in a game where it is unbelievably important, the feeling with the ball…

Out of those younger players, who really impressed you at the US Open? 
Well, I love both Canadians, I love Felix Auguer-Alliassime, he is unbelievable, a well-known guy and such a respectful guy, such a hard worker, I like him very much. I do love Denis Shapovalov, the way he plays, the way he moves, it’s like he is just bouncing so easy, he hits the ball off his racquet and it goes so fast, he can create winners from unbelievable places, I’m amazed by the way he hits his forehand down the line so easily. 

I like them very much, I think they are very attractive to watch them play and Jannick Sinner, I didn’t have a chance to see him live and I have only seen him a little bit. I know he’s hard and he’s very dangerous.

Alex Corretja is a tennis expert for Eurosport. All courts and all matches from Roland-Garros from Paris will be live on Eurosport and Eurosport app starting Sunday 27 September.