Friday at the All England Club will see the resumption of one of the greatest rivalries in the modern history of tennis.
Second seed Rafael Nadal faces 12th seed Novak Djokovic for a place in the Wimbledon final. The winner will secure themselves at least £1.125 million in prize money as well as 1200 ranking points. Both of which would almost double if they go on to win the title.
With so much at stake for both men, here are five things to know about Nadal’s latest match against Djokovic.
1. It’s the most comprehensive rivalry in history
The upcoming clash at Wimbledon will be the 52nd meeting between the two players. An Open Era record for the most tour match-ups. Both Nadal and Djokovic are involved in the three biggest rivalries in men’s tennis in terms of matches played :-
Most tour-level match-ups in the Open Era (prior to 13/7/18)
1. Djokovic – Nadal at 51 (Djokovic leads 26-25)
2. Djokovic – Roger Federer at 45 (Djokovic leads 22-23)
3. Nadal – Federer at 38 (Nadal leads 23-15)
Looking at solely grand slam matches, they will lock horns for the 14th time in a major. In the history of the modern game, only twice have two men’s players faced each other 14 or more times in a grand slam. The other is Djokovic and Federer, who has played each other 15 times so far.
2. Head-to-head in detail
| (2004–present) | Djokovic | Nadal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam | 4 | 9 | |
| Tennis Masters Cup | 3 | 2 | |
| ATP Masters Series | 16 | 11 | |
| ATP International Series Gold | 2 | 0 | |
| ATP International Series | 1 | 1 | |
| Davis Cup | 0 | 1 | |
| Olympics | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 26 | 25 | |
By surface
Clay -Nadal leads 16-7
Grass – Nadal leads 2-1
Hard courts – Djokovic leads 14-5
Indoor hard-courts – Djokovic leads 4-2
3. Djokovic looks to break the semi-final jinx
Wimbledon is the fifth time the two have squared off in the semi-final of a grand slam. In the past, facing Nadal at this stage of a major has been a nightmare for Djokovic. The Serbian has lost all of those previous encounters. However, three of those occurred at the French Open. A event Nadal has won 11 times before. The other was at Wimbledon 2007 when Djokovic was forced to retire due to an infected toe blister.
4. The level of their rivalry
Incredibly, there has only been four occasions in history where Nadal has faced Djokovic before the quarter-final of a tournament. To put this into perspective, they have met 24 times in a tournament final.
Early round meetings
- 2007 Tennis Masters Cup (round robin)
- 2009 Davis Cup (R1)
- 2009 ATP World Tour Finals (round robin)
- 2010 ATP World Tour Finals (round robin)
5. The unique record
No other player in history has defeated Djokovic in a grand slam more times than Nadal. He has recorded a total of nine wins over the Serbian so far in his career. Coincidentally, Djokovic is the only player to have ever scored four wins over the Spaniard in a major.
