Serbia's Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Spain's Rafael Nadal after winning their men's singles second round tennis match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Serbia's Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Spain's Rafael Nadal after winning their men's singles second round tennis match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Photo: Martin Bernetti/AFP
Rafael Nadal's rivalry with Roger Federer will forever be remembered for a series of classic clashes, but his head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic featured more matches and was more closely fought.
A record-breaking 60 meetings saw Djokovic come out on top 31 times, although Nadal won 11 of 18 Grand Slam matches.
In the Open era, no men met more often on the ATP Tour, with Djokovic and Federer having played 50 times.
"My greatest rival is Novak Djokovic," Nadal told Globo Esporte in a 2022 interview.
Djokovic has reigned supreme on hard courts for much of his career, winning a record 10 Australian Opens and four US Open titles.
He led Nadal 20-7 on the surface, although Nadal held a 20-9 edge on clay, on which he powered to 14 French Open crowns.
The pair only played four times on grass courts, with two victories apiece.
"I respect Rafa, probably more than any other player in the world — he is the biggest rival I had in my life," Djokovic said in 2021.
Nadal first faced a teenage Djokovic in the 2006 French Open quarter-finals, easing to victory as the Serb retired injured after losing the first two sets.
He won 14 of their first 18 matches, before Djokovic reeled off three straight victories on hard courts in 2009.
Their first major final meeting came the following year at the US Open, when Nadal won in four sets to complete the career Grand Slam.
The early 2010s confirmed their rivalry as a battle for the ages, with several marathon matches on the biggest stages.
Djokovic fought back from 4-2 down in a deciding set to win the longest ever Grand Slam final at the 2012 Australian Open, lasting five hours and 53 minutes.
Nadal continued to live up to his billing as the 'King of Clay', defeating Djokovic later that year at Roland Garros in a final played over two days due to rain.
Probably their greatest clash on the red dirt came 12 months later, when Nadal kept Djokovic waiting for the career Slam with a memorable French Open semi-final triumph, prevailing 9-7 in a fifth set.
The duo had also faced off in the 2011 Wimbledon showpiece, which Djokovic took in four sets to win the title for the first time.
Their only other Wimbledon clash came seven years later, but was another classic.
Nadal was denied a first final at the All England Club since 2011 as Djokovic won 10-8 in a fifth set before seeing off Kevin Anderson to win the trophy.
The Spaniard maintained his dominance on clay, taking his French Open record against Djokovic to 8-2 with a dramatic quarter-final victory in 2022.
Despite that, Djokovic enjoyed the limelight of being responsible for two of only the four defeats Nadal suffered at the French Open — in the 2015 quarter-finals and semi-finals in 2021.
The Serb then made it three wins over his rival in the French capital when he defeated Nadal at the 2024 Olympics on his way to the gold medal.
AFP