On Sunday afternoon at the French Open the latest instalment of one of the greatest tennis rivalries of all-time will get underway.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic will play 12-time champion Rafael Nadal on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Djokovic will be seeking only his second title in Paris and first since 2015 in what is a stark contrast to his rival. A win would make Nadal the first player – male or female – to have won 100 matches at Roland Garros and give him a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title.
“He’s definitely my greatest rival,” Djokovic said of the world No.2 ahead of the final.
“Playing him in so many great matches over the past will of course have some effect in terms of respect towards each other.’
“Motivation to get out on the court and play your best, knowing that we both have to be at our best in order to win against each other.”
It was at the French Open where the rivalry between the two tennis greats began. In 2006 a 19-year-old Djokovic reached his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final where he faced Nadal, who is just under 11 months younger than him. Nadal rallied to a 6-4, 6-4, lead before the showdown unfortunately ended due to the Serbian suffering from a lower back injury. Little did they know at the time that the meeting would be the first of many that has rewritten tennis history books multiple times.
“The only thing I know is to play against Novak, I need to play my best. Without playing my best tennis, the situation is very difficult,” said Nadal.
To put into perspective how significant the Djokovic-Nadal rivalry is, here are five records they have been broken over the years.
- Sunday will be a record 56th meeting between Nadal and Djokovic. The duo holds the record for the most tour-level match-up’s on the ATP Tour in the Open Era and are one of two groups of players to have played each other 50 or more times. The second highest match-up also involves Djokovic, who has played Roger Federer 50 times.
- Since 1969, Nadal and Djokovic have played each other more times at the French Open than anybody else in men’s tennis. The upcoming clash will be their eighth meeting with Nadal winning six out of their previous seven matches. Making the Spaniard the player with the most victories over the world No.1 in Grand Slams – Nadal has also defeated Djokovic two times at other major events.
On the Other hand, Djokovic is one of two players in history to have defeated Nadal at the tournament along with Sweden’s Robin Soderling. - It is the ninth time the two have locked horns in a Grand Slam final. A record-equalling milestone for most major finals contested between two players. Overall they have played each other 15 times in a Grand Slam tournament and it was at the French Open where they had their first ever meeting back in 2006.
- For only the second time in French Open history the same two players will contest the men’s final for a third time. Nadal won their two previous final clashes back in 2012 and 2014. Both of those victories were in four sets. Nadal has also played Federer four times in the final of the French Open.
- Djokovic and Nadal have already played each other in 26 Tour Finals (excluding the 2020 French Open) with the Serbian currently leading their head-to-head 15-11. This is an Open Era record on the ATP Tour.
Head to head break down
BY TOURNAMENT
Grand Slams: Nadal leads 9-6
Tennis Masters Cup/ ATP Finals: Djokovic leads 3-2
Masters 1000: Djokovic leads 16-12
ATP International Gold Series/500: Djokovic leads 2-0
ATP International/250: Tied at 1-1
Davis Cup: Nadal leads 1-0
ATP Cup: Djokovic leads 1-0
Olympic Games: Nadal leads 1-0
BY SURFACE
Clay: Nadal leads 17-7
Hard Court’s: Djokovic leads 20-7
Grass: tied at 2-2
OVERALL TALLY
Djokovic leads 29-26
