"Djokovic is not the favourite, Nadal is" says Goran Ivanisevic about Roland Garros

Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanisevic insists that Rafael Nadal is the favourite to win Roland Garros and not Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic leads the head to head series against Nadal 30-28 and was victorious in their last meeting which came in the 2021 French Open semi-final. Despite that and despite the bookies singling out Djokovics as the top favourite, Ivanisevic disagrees. He explained in an interview with L'Equipe:

"When I saw the draw, to be honest, I said: ‘OK, Nadal is going to get to the final. And so Novak was out. For me, there is only one favourite at Roland Garros and that is Nadal."

He continued:

"Even with what has happened with his foot in Rome, I always think that. Injured, not injured, he is always the favourite here. It is his home, his court. He knows all the good bounces, all the bad bounces, every nook and cranny. Whether he plays well or badly, under the sun or not, it changes nothing.”

He continued by praising Nadal for what he did in his career:

“Rafa is incredible. I have enormous respect for him. In the final, Medvedev could not close the match and you must never do that against Rafa! Anyway, I said seven or eight years ago that Rafa and Novak would have more than 20 Grand Slam titles, and we are there with Nadal.”