7 players to defeat Novak Djokovic on hard court and Rafael Nadal on clay in the same season ft. Roger Federer and Andy Murray
Defeating Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is in itself amongst the biggest feats in any player's tennis career. And doing it on their favorite surfaces in a single season is an even more impressive achievement.
Hard courts have always been a paradise for Djokovic, as he won 14 of his 24 Grand Slam titles (10x Australian Open and 4x US Open) on the hard court. In addition, he also has seven ATP Finals titles under his belt. As for Nadal, he is famously called the 'King of Clay' thanks to his unbelievable success on dirt.
The Spaniard is a record 14-time champion at Roland Garros. He also won 11 titles at the Monte-Carlo Masters, 10 at the Italian Open, and five at Madrid Open. However, there have been times when their rivals have managed to get the better of them on their favorite surfaces.
With that said, lets take a look at seven players who defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on hard and clay court, respectively, in the same year.
#7 Alex de Minaur
Alex de Minaur is the latest player to defeat Novak Djokovic on hard court and Rafael Nadal on clay in one year after he bettered the Spaniard 7-5, 6-1 in the second round of the 2024 Barcelona Open.
At the start of year, de Minaur defeated Djokovic at the United Cup. Representing Australia, de Minaur downed the Serb 6-4, 6-4 in their singles quarterfinal tie at the multi-nation competition.
#6 Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev etched his name on this list in 2021. Zverev got the better of Djokovic twice on hard courts in 2021. First time was at the Tokyo Olympics where the German ended the Serb's dream of an Olympic gold medal in the semifinals. Zverev again emerged victorious against Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2021 ATP Finals.
As for Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev recorded his first and so far only win over him on the clay court in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Madrid Open.
#5 Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas has only defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal twice each in his career so far and two of these victories came on their ideal surfaces in 2019. The highest-ranked Greek player in ATP history defeated Nadal in the semifinals of the 2019 Madrid Open in a three-set battle.
Few months later at the Shanghai Masters, Tsitsipas came out on top of another three-set affair, this time against Novak Djokovic.
#4 Dominic Thiem
Dominic Theim achieved this specific record in the same year as Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 2020 US Open champion has recorded four wins over Nadal on clay courts and the last of them came in the semifinals of the 2019 Barcelona Open. Interestingly, this was the Spaniard's last defeat in Barcelona before his loss to de Minaur this year.
Dominic Thiem then registered a win over Novak Djokovic in the group stages of the 2019 ATP Finals in the indoor hard court of London.
#3 Andy Murray
Andy Murray bested Novak Djokovic on hard court and Rafael Nadal on clay court in the same season twice in his career. First time was in 2015, when the Brit defeated Djokovic in the final of the Canadian Open and Nadal in the title contest of the Madrid Open.
Andy Murray repeated the feat in 2016, when he bettered Djokovic in the final of the ATP Finals and Nadal in the semifinals of the Madrid Open. That final in Madrid was the last time Andy Murray faced the Spaniard on tennis court till date.
#2 Robin Soderling
Swedish tennis star Robin Soderling made his way into this list in 2009. Soderling defeated Rafael Nadal twice in his career and one of them came in the fourth round of the 2009 Roland Garros.
Soderling registered his lone victory over Novak Djokovic in the group stage of the ATP Finals later that year.
#1 Roger Federer
Roger Federer defeated his 'Big 3' counterparts in their favorite surfaces in the same year more than once. The first time was in 2007 when the Swiss maestro bettered Djokovic in the fourth round of the Australian Open, quarterfinal of the Dubai Tennis Championships, and final of the US Open. Meanwhile, he bettered Rafael Nadal in the final of Hamburg Masters.
The second time Roger Federer achieved this particular feat was in 2009. Federer bested the Serb in the final of the Western & Southern Open and final of the US Open, while he defeated the Spaniard in the title contest of Madrid Open.