It is safe to say that Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem were not the only players concerned with last Sunday’s outcome of their Australian Open. You can be sure to add Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to that list.
“Federer and Nadal might be pissed at me because Djokovic came closer to the Grand Slam record,” Thiem joked after losing the final to the second-ranked Serb 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
And why not? The race for the all-time record in Grand Slam singles titles has been the biggest story in tennis for at least five years now. It is only heating up now that Djokovic is within three of Federer for the first time ever. Following the now-world No. 1’s recent triumph in Melbourne, the score stands at 20 for Federer, 19 for Nadal, and 17 for Djokovic.
“Obviously, yes,” Nadal said when asked if he would have preferred a Thiem victory. “I don’t have to be a hypocrite, right? It would have been better for me personally if Thiem won.
“But, to be honest, I slept just as well for the last two days even without that. It doesn’t matter who was the winner, Dominik or Novak; it’s part of our sport. Novak played an amazing tournament, being the best player in the world at the moment. All I can do is congratulate him on another huge success.”
In addition to staying three slam titles ahead of Djokovic if Thiem had prevailed, the 33-year-old also would have remained at the top of the ATP rankings. Instead, Djokovic–who has won five of the last seven majors–once again stands on top of the tennis world.
There is, however, some good news for Nadal.
The next Grand Slam will take place at none other than his French Open stomping grounds, where he is a 12-time champion. Three consecutive titles from 2017 through 2019 have taken his lifetime record at Roland Garros to a ridiculous 93-2. Not only is Nadal our safe bet for winning that grand slam in 2020, but punters should also keep an eye out for enhanced odds that are given by bookies before special sports events. Enhanced Odds offers are bets for new and existing customers that give much better odds at winning for a very low bet. The wins are usually cashed as free bets to be used in future bets.
As mentioned above, Nadal is the current favorite to triumph in Paris this spring–even though he admits Djokovic is the best player in the world right now. Check out enhanced odds and signup offers by Freebets.com, which has Nadal as a commanding -110 favorite to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires. Djokovic is the second choice at +300, followed by Thiem (+500), Stefanos Tsitsipas (+1800), Alexander Zverev (+2000), and Federer (+2200).
If the Spaniard gets the job done, the race will be tied at the top at 20-20 between Nadal and Federer. But keep in mind Djokovic is a year younger than Nadal and six years younger than Federer.
Game on.
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who ya got?
Right now I think it still has to be Rafa at #1 and Thiem at #2. The betting odds are overrating Djokovic on the basis of his AO win. Thiem might’ve been edged out on a low-bouncing HC, but clay’s a totally different story.
Outside of injury issues, I doubt that the #1 and #2 would really change during the clay swing. Maybe Thiem can take it to a new level after some more HC success, but I thought Rafa looked reasonably good too.
It will be interesting to see where Wawrinka fits in, I would have him ahead of Fed at this point.