Jelena Djokovic fires back at reporter's Rafael Nadal tweet

Novak Djokovic's wife Jelena clearly has her man's back, and she's desperate to see the Serbian shown some love in the tennis world.

Djokovic may be World No.1, but it's Rafael Nadal who is the undisputed king of clay, as underlined by his 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 against the Serb in the Italian Open final.

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Over the weekend, Djokovic again felt the full force of Nadal on clay as the Spaniard clinched a 10th Italian Open title to cement his status as the French Open favourite.

Nadal is chasing an extraordinary record-extending 14th Roland Garros title having only lost twice in the French capital in 102 matches since 2005.

The Spaniard's latest title in Rome saw him draw level with Djokovic on 36 Masters 1000 titles and the World No.1 only leads their head-to-head record by one win after the pair's 57th meeting.

Not surprisingly, Nadal's feat drew widespread admiration across the tennis world, with fans praising a never-say-die attitude that saw the 34-year-old dig deep in wins against Jannik Sinner, Denis Shapovalov, Alexander Zverev, and Reilly Opelka - before toppling Djokovic in the final.

Against Shapovalov, the Spaniard came from a set down and saved two match points to typify his famous fighting spirit.

Nadal's survival story in Rome became one of the major talking points on social media, with New York Times tennis correspondent Christopher Clarey summarising the thoughts of many in a superb post.

Taking to Twitter to define the 20-time Grand Slam champion, Clarey wrote: “Nadal (noun). 1) a Spanish tennis player who will fight no matter the score and usually find a way to win. 2) Clay.”

Djokovic is also renowned as one of the great fighters in men's tennis, and it was a trait he demonstrated on numerous occasions in the Italian capital.

The World No.1 had to come from a set down to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas and also came out on top against local hope Lorenzo Sonego in a gruelling 2 hour and 45 minute battle the day before the final against Nadal.

The defending champion pushed Nadal in a thrilling final and paid his respects to the eventual champion as a gracious runner-up.

Jelena Djokovic's proud wife moment

Tagging Clarey's post about Nadal, the Serb's wife Jelena was determined to give her husband a similar shout-out on social media.

Jelena wrote, “Add another noun, please. Djokovic (noun). 1) a Serbian player who will find a way to win no matter the crowd or score.”

Djokovic was impressive during the final and admitted he is on the right path to push Nadal and the other contenders at Roland Garros.

But he also feels he is a "long shot" to wrestle the title out of Nadal's hands.

"I actually now started to feel like I actually want to feel on clay," added Djokovic.

"So I think if I manage to play the way I played last night (against Lorenzo Sonego in a three-set semi-final) and today, I think I have a good chance to go all the way in Paris.

"Of course it's a long shot."

Following his loss to the Spaniard, Djokovic is set to compete back home at the Belgrade Open to gain more match practice on the red surface.

Meanwhile, for Nadal, Roland Garros, which gets underway on May 30, means a chance for a 14th Paris title and record 21st Grand Slam crown.

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