Prime Video: Nadal/Djokovic, Roland Garros duel, clash of the titans documentary

There are only two days left before the start of Roland-Garros, and the appetite for ocher is growing, growing. On Sunday, a new edition of France’s Internationals will begin, marked by the notorious absence of the master of the place, Spaniard Rafael Nadal, fourteen-time winner of the tournament, one of the most high-profile feats “in the history of the sport.” , as recalled by Guy Forget in a documentary posted online this Friday on Prime Video, the streaming platform that will be broadcasting the key matches of the fortnightly evening.

A documentary that chronicles the extraordinary rivalry that has been pitted against the Mallorca-born, Spain-born legend, another tennis monster from the Balkans, for over fifteen years in Paris. “Nadal/Djokovic Roland Garros duel” takes us back in time and analyzes nine clashes between two men in Port d’Auteuil in an instructive and entertaining way.

Baby Faces in 2006

And it all starts in 2006 with images that show two champions with baby faces. We find young Jocko, unknown, barely 19, smashing a punching bag in the locker room, writing with a marker, smiling like a kid who makes a good mistake, mentioning “Vamos Nole” (his nickname) on the back of his boots. And this is while his Spaniard rival, the 20-year-old and already reigning Roland Garros champion, plays with custom-made pairs embroidered in his name.

Another striking scene sets the tone. This is the post-match press conference on June 7, when Novak Djokovic, after withdrawing after losing the first two sets, claims he could have won this quarter-final. Arrogance or … clairvoyance?

The documentary, embellished with interviews with numerous tennis players (Gustavo Kuerten, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga…), journalists and coaches, managed to show the Serbian’s fierce struggle to catch up with his illustrious elder. First, a tennis delay. So popularity. With extraordinary ruthlessness, further multiplied in 2013 by the death of the first coach who gave him confidence, Jelena Gencic.

That same year, chasing the title in Paris became a way for him to dry his tears. An epic that will end with the legendary semi-final, finally won by Nadal after an exciting fifth set. Joko will also shed tears in 2015, despite the victory over his eternal rival in quarters.

Shocks, between these two there will be others, of which we find parallel trajectories that have been separated since childhood. Particularly in 2021, in a world still plunged into a health crisis, Joko and Nadal will make it very difficult to postpone the clock of the still-current curfew so that the public can witness the end of their Homeric meeting!