On the first day of quarter-finals action at the French Open there is one match that everybody is talking about.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic will lock horns with 13-time champion Rafael Nadal once again at Roland Garros under the lights on Court Philippe Chatrier. The two tennis titans have won a staggering 41 major titles between them and have combined prize money earnings of more than $274M.
Djokovic enters the last eight yet to drop a set in the tournament after defeating Yoshihito Nishioka (No.99), Alex Molcan (No.38), Aljaz Bedene (No.195) and Diego Schwartzman (No.16). Meanwhile, Nadal has endured a tougher route into the quarter-finals after battling past Felix Auger-Aliassime (No.9) in five sets in the previous round. The Spaniard has also defeated Jordan Thompson (No.82), Corentin Moutet (No.139) and Botic van de Zandschulp (No.29).
It is the 10th time the two have faced each other at the French Open. The tournament where their rivalry started back in 2006 when Djokovic was forced to retire from their clash after playing two sets due to a lower back injury.
Ahead of their latest meeting, here is everything you need to know about Djokovic’s historic rivalry with Nadal.
1 – Whilst Nadal playing Djokovic has occurred many times in the sports history, their latest match will set another milestone. It will be the first time a match has taken place between two players who have both won 20 or more Grand Slam titles, 1000 plus Tour matches and over 300 Grand Slam matches.
2 – Djokovic is the only player to have beaten Nadal multiple times at the French Open. His first win was in the quarter-finals of the 2015 tournament. Then last year he triumphed in their semi-final clash.
17 – the number of consecutive seasons where Nadal and Djokovic have played each other at least once on the Tour.
22– the number of straight sets Djokovic has won coming into his latest match. The world No.1 is currently on a nine-match winning streak after claiming the Italian Masters title leading up to Roland Garros.
28 – Nadal has scored 28 wins over Djokovic. In their rivalry he has recorded more victories than his nemesis when playing on the clay (19-8) and at Grand Slam events (10-7).
30 – How many times Djokovic has defeated Nadal on the Tour. Exactly half of those was achieved in the final of a tournament. 23 out of the 30 wins came in matches that were played under the best-of-three format.
50 – Winning the opening set has proven key in meetings between the two tennis giants. 86% of their previous matches (50/58) was won by the player who claimed the opener. However, their previous meeting at last year’s French Open was won by Djokovic who battled back from a set down to prevail 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2.
59 – their latest clash at this year’s French Open is the 59th instalment of the rivalry which is an Open Era record in men’s tennis. To put that into context the only other rivalry to have gone to 50 or more meetings is between Djokovic and Roger Federer who have faced each other 50 times.
70 – the combined age of both players
