Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have reunion up in the air on their way to the United States
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had an unexpected reunion up in the air on their way to the United States ahead of the upcoming Sunshine Double.
The duo have both been on the sidelines for a while, with Nadal having skipped the Australian Open and the following Middle East swing because of an injury. However, the Spaniard has now recovered, and will next be in action at the Netflix Slam in Las Vegas, after which he will make his competitive comeback at Indian Wells.
Djokovic, meanwhile, was last in action at the Australian Open, where he reached the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. The Serb then took a short break to spend some time with his family, and is now set to resume his time on the tour at Indian Wells.
With their respective arrivals in the United States syncing up, Nadal and Djokovic appear to have shared an airplane, as revealed on social media. The World No. 1 took to Instagram to share a picture with the 22-time Grand Slam champion, referring to him as "good company" along the way.
"Good company on the way to USA," Djokovic captioned the post.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic last met at Indian Wells in 2016
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic share a long history with each other, having come face to face 59 times on the ATP Tour so far. The head-to-head record stands 30-29 in favor of the latter.
At Indian Wells, they have met four times. Their first meeting came in 2007, where Nadal prevailed in the final in straight sets. They met again the following year, where Djokovic exacted revenge in the semifinals with a victory in straight sets.
Their third meeting came in 2011, where the Serb won in a tight three-setter in the final, following which they met again in 2016. In their most recent meeting, it was Djokovic who ended up as the winner once again, doing so in straight sets.
This year, the 24-time Grand Slam champion will be the top seed at Indian Wells, seeing as he has secured his World No. 1 ranking until then. Nadal, on the other hand, has entered the tournament at the moment using his protected ranking.
The pair will be joined at the tournament by the likes of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, Andy Murray, Holger Rune and other stars at the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.