A day before the start of Roland Garros, tennis player Novak Djokovic held a press conference on Saturday, most of which naturally dealt with the withdrawal from the tournament of favorite Rafael Nadal, who has won the tournament 14 times in the past.
"Honestly, I don't miss him in the draw," Djokovic said, smiling. "You know, I don't like to see him in the Roland Garros draw, to be honest, I didn't have any success against him in our meetings here. I managed to beat him twice, but I had to leave my heart and courage on the pitch to achieve it. So I know how hard it is to play with him anywhere, really, around the world, but especially here."
The world number three added: "As a tennis fan and as someone who is also part of the tennis ecosystem, you always want to win, to see the best tennis players in the world, the most famous tennis players in the world play. So he's definitely one of those guys who not only made history in terms of his records in this tournament, but won the hearts of many tennis fans around the world, and rightly so, with his charisma and character and everything he left behind in his legacy."
Novak Djokovic has mixed feelings over Rafael Nadal's French Open absence [via @YahooSportUK] https://t.co/kuR8g3VORD pic.twitter.com/vx797DSboO
— Ńasser 1️⃣ Million Tweets 🐦 (@nasser_mo3gza) May 27, 2023
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On the prospect of winning a 23rd career Grand Slam title, he said: "I keep playing tennis to break more records, it's no secret, but it's also true that I don't have the same body as I did 10 years ago."
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