Novak Djokovic calls it the “privilege of pressure” but Andy Murray hopes the best player in the world cracks under the strain of expectation he has put on himself before their semi-final at the French Open on Friday.
The world No1, who has lost only twice all year, needs the title for a career grand slam, not to mention the second leg of a potential sweep of all four majors this year, a feat last celebrated when Rod Laver did it for the second time 46 years ago. So this match and this tournament are wreathed in significance.
John McEnroe calls it “the changing of the guard” and says if Djokovic wins his ninth slam title on Sunday he has a chance to be considered “an all-time great” alongside Rafael Nadal, whom he demolished in straight sets on Wednesday, and Roger Federer, who lost in the quarters to Stan Wawrinka the same afternoon.
Murray, who beat David Ferrer for the first time on clay to reach his third semi-final here, compared Djokovic’s task with that of his own when he won the Wimbledon title in 2013 to break the yoke of 77 years without a British male singles winner at the sport’s spiritual home. “You put extreme amounts of pressure on yourself to do it,” Murray said of his three-set win over Djokovic at Wimbledon, and Djokovic’s challenge in Paris.
“You would say this is Novak’s best chance to do it, having beaten Rafa and Rafa not playing as well as he has in the past.
“No one left in the tournament has won the event. He goes into the semi-finals being the most experienced player. To win the career grand slam is an extremely difficult thing to do, which is why so few people have done it. He will obviously put a lot of pressure on himself to try to do it this year.”
McEnroe, who won seven slam titles but lost in his only French final, knows all about rivalries and how the pressure can build at the top of the game, having played so many great matches against Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, as well as Ivan Lendl. “There’s a lot of pressure on [Djokovic], no question,” he said. “And I’m sure a lot of it is self-induced. He’s got an opportunity to be considered among the elite of the elite if he wins this.
“I was always thinking: ‘How would I break in with Connors and Borg and be considered their equal?’ It was not easy to do and, when I was on that level, it [felt like] an amazing accomplishment.
“I think Novak’s the same: he’s got these two guys who are arguably the two greatest guys ever, and he’s trying to be on an equal footing. That’s a hell of a tough thing to do when you do 17 slams [Federer] and 14 slams [Nadal] and Novak’s at eight.”
