World number two Novak Djokovic is now just a win away from completing a career Grand Slam after reaching the Roland Garros 2014 final. The Serbian tennis superstar ended the run of Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday’s semifinal match. Standing on his way to become just the eighth man to achieve a career Grand Slam is world number one and eight-time champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal reached the final after sweeping past Andy Murray in straight sets.
Despite the loss, Gulbis will still have something to celebrate about as he’s guaranteed to make his debut in the world’s top ten on Monday.
The men’s singles final at Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday is going to be highly anticipated considering that there’s a lot at stake. The winner will become world number one once the rankings are updated on Monday, will go home with a whopping €1.65 million and of course leaving Paris as the French Open champion.
If Nadal wins the title, he’s assured to keep the top ranking next week. For Djokovic, a win means reclaiming the top ranking and almost assuring a top seeding at Wimbledon tournament which begins later this month.
Nadal has beaten Djokovic in the past five meetings at Roland Garros. Their first meeting in Paris was back in 2006 quarterfinals, semifinals in 2007, 2008 and 2013 and the final in 2012.
Despite the poor record, Nadal is not going to take this match for granted as Djokovic has defeated Nadal in their past four meetings, including the Rome Masters final a month ago.
“I’m going to try to be aggressive because that is the only way I can win against him,” Djokovic said. “I know that, of course, this is the court he’s most dominant on. He has only lost one time in his career. This is where he plays his best.”
