Ranking Djokovic/Nadal Rivalry

[BGod]

I think it over-shot the Federer/Nadal rivalry last season.

With its main competition, the Djokovic/Nadal rivalry saw all 4 Grand Slam Finals as oppose to 3, a closer age gap of just under a year as oppose to nearly 5 and a 23-19 record tally (closer than Federer/Nadal).

I think it's #1. The overall breakdown:


Nadal 23-19 total match record
Djokovic 12-10 total finals record

Djokovic 1-0 Australia (1-0 in Final)
Nadal 6-0 French (2-0 Final)
1-1 Wimbledon (Djokovic 1-0 Final)
Nadal 2-1 USO (2-1 in Final)

Surface
Djokovic 11-5 HO
Djokovic 3-2 HI
Nadal 2-1 Grass
Nadal 14-4 Clay

 

[DerekNoleFam1]

There have been better rivalries, more entertaining, more riveting, eg Becker-Edberg, Mac-Borg, Lendl-Connors etc.
It is not just on sheer numbers, but on the competitiveness of the matches.
Most Nadovic matches, esp at the Slams, have been fairly one-sided in the end, and kudos to Nadal who has not lost a Major to Novak since 2012 AO - which was also their most competitive match.
9-3 in Majors to Nadal would also irk most Novak fans as well.

 

[BGod]

There have been better rivalries, more entertaining, more riveting, eg Becker-Edberg, Mac-Borg, Lendl-Connors etc.
It is not just on sheer numbers, but on the competitiveness of the matches.
Most Nadovic matches, esp at the Slams, have been fairly one-sided in the end, and kudos to Nadal who has not lost a Major to Novak since 2012 AO - which was also their most competitive match.
9-3 in Majors to Nadal would also irk most Novak fans as well.

Lendl 22-13 while Lendl won their last 17 meetings. What a rivalry. You were saying about competitiveness?

Becker lead 25-10 with only 4 Slam meetings (2 five setters both won by Edberg).


Care to try again?

 

[RF-18]

There have been better rivalries, more entertaining, more riveting, eg Becker-Edberg, Mac-Borg, Lendl-Connors etc.
It is not just on sheer numbers, but on the competitiveness of the matches.
Most Nadovic matches, esp at the Slams, have been fairly one-sided in the end, and kudos to Nadal who has not lost a Major to Novak since 2012 AO - which was also their most competitive match.
9-3 in Majors to Nadal would also irk most Novak fans as well.

Outside FO they are 3-3 in slams.

Never have two guys met as much as they have. But I remain silent on this, hard to say wich rivalry is the greatest. Maybe it will give us a better view when they are close to ending their careers.

And what do you mean ''most of nadovic matches have been one sided''?? it's 23-19 h2h. Thats pretty darn close. Since Djokovic reached the pinnacle of his career(2011-) he is 12-7 in h2h.

 

[DerekNoleFam1]

Lendl 22-13 while Lendl won their last 17 meetings. What a rivalry. You were saying about competitiveness?

Becker lead 25-10 with only 4 Slam meetings (2 five setters both won by Edberg).


Care to try again?

Outside FO they are 3-3 in slams.

Never have two guys met as much as they have. But I remain silent on this, hard to say wich rivalry is the greatest. Maybe it will give us a better view when they are close to ending their careers.

And what do you mean ''most of nadovic matches have been one sided''?? it's 23-19 h2h. Thats pretty darn close. Since Djokovic reached the pinnacle of his career(2011-) he is 12-7 in h2h.

My personal opinion is that this rivalry has failed to capture the imagination of the general public that the previous ones mentioned have, and even Sampras-Agassi as well - even if that one ended up pretty one-sided in favour of Pete.

 

[Noleberic123]

My personal opinion is that this rivalry has failed to capture the imagination of the general public that the previous ones mentioned have, and even Sampras-Agassi as well - even if that one ended up pretty one-sided in favour of Pete.

Because everyone loves fedal. People don't realize that shouldn't even count as a rivalry anymore. Fedovic and rafole are much better rivalries than fedal. IMO

 

[beast of mallorca]

Outside FO they are 3-3 in slams.

Never have two guys met as much as they have. But I remain silent on this, hard to say wich rivalry is the greatest. Maybe it will give us a better view when they are close to ending their careers.

And what do you mean ''most of nadovic matches have been one sided''?? it's 23-19 h2h. Thats pretty darn close. Since Djokovic reached the pinnacle of his career(2011-) he is 12-7 in h2h.

And why "outside of clay" ? :twisted:

 

[Talker]

By the numbers it should be Nadal Djokovic.

There's more to it than that though and it's personal.
I've never been more into the match than when watching Fed vs Nadal and Borg vs McEnroe at Wimbledon(1980 and 1981).

I could hardly sit down and watched every point played.

 

[The_Order]

And why "outside of clay" ? :twisted:

Haven't you learned by now that clay and in particular RG doesn't count?

 

[The_Order]

My take on it is this, and people who were around to witness these would know, there was more buzz around Nadal v Federer matches than there ever was with Nadal v Djokovic.

There was a battle going on to see who was going to top who first in their best slams. Will Fed beat Nadal at RG? Or will Nadal beat Fed at Wimbledon?

That's what added intrigue to their rivalry and the clash of styles always made it more exciting to watch, they were like polar opposites early on including their attire.

By the time they faced off in their one and only HC slam final, the stage had been set. It was the surface they had never played against each other in a major and there was so much history on that AO09 match.

So yeah, by numbers, Nadal v Djokovic seems to be better, but after witnessing both, I'd say Nadal v Federer was the better rivalry.

 

[Noleberic123]

My take on it is this, and people who were around to witness these would know, there was more buzz around Nadal v Federer matches than there ever was with Nadal v Djokovic.

There was a battle going on to see who was going to top who first in their best slams. Will Fed beat Nadal at RG? Or will Nadal beat Fed at Wimbledon?

That's what added intrigue to their rivalry and the clash of styles always made it more exciting to watch, they were like polar opposites early on including their attire.

By the time they faced off in their one and only HC slam final, the stage had been set. It was the surface they had never played against each other in a major and there was so much history on that AO09 match.

So yeah, by numbers, Nadal v Djokovic seems to be better, but after witnessing both, I'd say Nadal v Federer was the better rivalry.

The fedal rivalry was only good until nadal didn't reach his peak on all surfaces. Fedovic for example is still good as it ever was.

 

[abmk]

greatness :

federer-nadal
nadal-djokovic
federer-djokovic

quality-wise (overall ):

federer-djokovic
federer-nadal
nadal-djokovic

 

[eldanger25]

Djokovic-Nadal is a great rivalry which really took off in 2011. 17 of the last 19 matches in finals, with several GS title fights and the de facto final at RG 2013. For me, it's one of the Top 5 of the Open Era easily - I'd rank it either fourth or fifth alongside Mac-Lendl and behind Laver-Rosewall, Borg-McEnroe and Federer-Nadal in some order.

It's possible that Nadal-Djokovic can climb higher if they contest a few more classic finals in the next few years. It's already ahead of Connors-Borg, Sampras-Agassi, and other great, era-defining rivalries of the Open Era.

In any event, for me the quality of tennis matters a lot, but so do the stakes, and one clue is to look to see if the players kept meeting in big finals over and over again across individual seasons. Federer-Djokovic, for instance, is a great rivalry for the diehards (wonderful tennis and two alpha males butting heads), but has never been era-defining. Just not enough GS finals or streak of meeting in finals across the tour for my taste.

Anyway, for the sake of discussion, here are my Open Era candidates for top rivalry, in my opinion (obviously some of these can be ruled out - I'm just trying to capture the matchups that most often generated finals over a concentrated period):

Nadal/Djokovic from 2011-14 (17 of 19 matches in finals; 6 GS title fights and de facto final at '13 RG SF)

Fed/Nadal from 2006-10 (17 of 19 matches in finals; 7 GS title fights)

Fed/Roddick from 2004-06 (6 of 7 meetings in finals; 3 GS title fights)

Sampras/Agassi in 1995, and 1999-2002 (11 out of 16 meetings in finals; 4 GS title fights and arguable de facto final at 2000 AO SF)

Becker/Edberg from 1988-91 (13 of 17 meetings in finals; 3 straight Wimbledon finals)

Lendl/Wilander from 1985-88 (8 of 10 meetings in finals; 4 GS title fights)

Lendl/Becker from 1986-91 (11 of 15 meetings in finals; 3 GS title fights)

Lendl/Mac from 1982-85 (18 of 21 meetings in finals; 3 GS title fights; multiple Dallas/YEC finals back when they were bigger than or equal to AO)

Mac/Connors from 1980-83 (10 of 14 meetings in finals; 1 GS title fight; multiple Dallas/Philly title fights back when they were bigger than AO)

Borg/Mac from 1979-81 (9 of 13 meetings in finals; 4 GS title fights and a '79 Dallas final meeting in one of the most competitive fields Dallas ever produced)

Connors/Borg from 1976-79(12 of 15 meetings in finals; 4 GS title fights and several YEC/Philly/Pepsi GS finals)

Nasty/Smith from '71 through '73 (6 of 7 meetings in finals; a classic Wimbledon final and a few finals at the YEC and big indoor events of the day)

Laver/Rosewall from '68 through '72 (12 of 17 meetings in finals; 2 GS title fights, 2 Dallas finals - including their '72 classic, and big finals in Sydney, Philly etc.)

 

[HailDjokovic]

#2 in my book.

It has the most encounters and the tightest matches. It is honestly since 2011 a 50/50, but Nadal obviously dominates nole at the French. This rivalry has the potential to go to #1 if these two can meet in a COUPLE more GS finals.

The part that gets me excited the most is that honestly, this is a modern day gladiator match. Two guys striking blows until one gets tired and cannot continue on anymore and the killing blow at the end. It is almost violent in a sort of way to see these guys struggle and try their hardest against each other. It entertains me as a spectator.

 

[beast of mallorca]

^^kudos to you [Eldanger] for a greAt summary of the rivalries in the Open Era.

 

[eldanger25]

^^kudos to you [Eldanger] for a greAt summary of the rivalries in the Open Era.

Thanks much - was a fun opportunity to think back on some great matches as well. Where do you rank the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry among all of 'em?

 

[Tennisknowledge99]

1. Federer-Djokovic

2. Borg-McEnroe

3. Federer-Nadal

4. Lendl-Becker

5. Djokovic-Nadal

 

[Kirijax]

The Lendl-Wilander rivalry is underrated. That was a great matchup.

 

[RF-18]

And why "outside of clay" ? :twisted:

I said outside ''FO'', I was referring to the slam.

Because it is not as one-sided in slams as people suggest. They have met eachother 6 times in FO. Nadal is the greatest on clay by far.

And they have met 1 time in AO wich is djokovics best surface. Do the math.

 

[70sHollywood]

What I like about the Sampras/Agassi rivalry is that both were nearly the same age, came to prominence at roughly the same time, peaked around the same time, and declined around the same time. There are not any excuses in any of their matches. Each time, the best player won.

 

[The_Order]

I said outside ''FO'', I was referring to the slam.

Because it is not as one-sided in slams as people suggest. They have met eachother 6 times in FO. Nadal is the greatest on clay by far.

And they have met 1 time in AO wich is djokovics best surface. Do the math.

Well maybe defending champion Djokovic should've got to Nadal in 2009 and 2014 to even it up...

 

[The Green Mile]

I didn't watch any tennis live before 2000. Fed vs. Nadal has gotten the most attention I have seen so far. The interesting match up, The No. 2 chasing the No. 1 scenario, Dominance of Grass and Clay, etc... Had the most entertaining matches and probably level wise as well.

Djokovic vs. Fed and Nadal, was pretty fun to watch in the earlier days, where you had this guy trying to break up the Fed/Nadal party. Djokovic and Nadal Clay battles in 2009, Djokovic and Federer US rivalry, etc. Djokovic vs Federer would be my second favourite rivalry I have seen.

I also loved watching Fed vs. Nalbandian matches early on in their careers. And Agassi (My first fav player) vs Federer (Became fav player).

 

[Gizo]

Lendl-McEnroe is definitely my favourite open era rivalry, and prime vs. prime from 1981 their h2h was 12-12.

Nadal-Djokovic is also special and they've played each other at all 4 slams, the YEC, the Olympics, the Davis Cup, and 9 different masters series events (including at Hamburg in 2008 before it was downgraded). The only 'big' tournament that they haven't played each other at is Shanghai. They nearly faced off in the 2009 Shanghai final, but Djokovic lost his semi-final in a final set tiebreak to Davydenko, who went on to beat Nadal in the final.

 

[RF-18]

Well maybe defending champion Djokovic should've got to Nadal in 2009 and 2014 to even it up...

Where was he in 2011?, he tanked against ferrer,, he missed 2013 (when do you see djokovic or federer withdraw from RG), 2015 gone in quarters, and so on.

Nadal doesn't make it to his rivals consistently outside RG as his rivals does for him on his best surface. Thats common sense by now.

 

[RF-18]

I didn't watch any tennis live before 2000. Fed vs. Nadal has gotten the most attention I have seen so far. The interesting match up, The No. 2 chasing the No. 1 scenario, Dominance of Grass and Clay, etc... Had the most entertaining matches and probably level wise as well.

Djokovic vs. Fed and Nadal, was pretty fun to watch in the earlier days, where you had this guy trying to break up the Fed/Nadal party. Djokovic and Nadal Clay battles in 2009, Djokovic and Federer US rivalry, etc. Djokovic vs Federer would be my second favourite rivalry I have seen.

I also loved watching Fed vs. Nalbandian matches early on in their careers. And Agassi (My first fav player) vs Federer (Became fav player).

Yea, it was like El Clasico. Barcelona vs. Real Madrid.

 

[SpinToWin]

It's not that high up really… Well down the list behind other rivalries such as Federer-Nadal, Sampras-Agassi, Borg-McEnroe, etc.

 

[Russeljones]

Lendl 22-13 while Lendl won their last 17 meetings. What a rivalry. You were saying about competitiveness?

Becker lead 25-10 with only 4 Slam meetings (2 five setters both won by Edberg).


Care to try again?

Maybe that's the guy's opinion and he doesn't have to justify it based on numbers?

 

[swordtennis]

I love it. Now I wish it had more on grass and hard court but that is the breaks.

 

[Backspin1183]

I've always enjoyed tennis but it wasn't always my number 1 favourite sport. It was behind Rugby, football and cricket. Federer-Nadal rivalry made tennis become my most favourite sport.
Not sure Nadal-Djokovic or Federer-Djokovic rivalry has the same magic.

 

[irishnadalfan1983]

Don't enjoy Dkojo - Nadal matches at all - even when Nadal wins.

Can't beat the magic of Fedal.

 

[Sysyphus]

Borg Mac defeats all in my not so humble opinion.

Fedal has more gravitas too.

Also, too much baseline focus in Djokodal.

 

[90's Clay]

What I like about the Sampras/Agassi rivalry is that both were nearly the same age, came to prominence at roughly the same time, peaked around the same time, and declined around the same time. There are not any excuses in any of their matches. Each time, the best player won.

That's a good point too.. They were TRUE contemporaries.

Nadal's level definitely leveled off and stagnated by 2011. Most would agree his peak was from 2008-2010. Nole's peak didn't hit until 2011. Their peaks didn't coincide since Nadal was an early bloomer, Nole was a later bloomer.


That said, Nole/Nadal is really the only thing thats good in tennis and due to Nadal's injury riddled last 2-3 seasons we haven't got to truly witness the rivalry. Without Rafa/Nole what do you have today?

Murray/Nole SNOOZEFests?? Boring.. Their matches suck.. Every dang time just about. Nole/Raonic? Fed/Dimitrov? Nothing interesting right now.