The Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic rivalry in numbers: All you need to know ahead of Paris Olympics 'last dance'
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are set head-to-head again in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympics. This will be the 60th meeting between the two tennis icons, labelled by observers as 'One Last Dance' between the duo.
The iconic Nadal-Djokovic rivalry is in its final stage with nothing to separate the duo. Of their 59 encounters, Djokovic has won 30 while Nadal has won 29. The 'King of clay' will aim to level up when he takes to his beloved Roland Garros in Paris.
Nadal and Djokovic last faced off at the quarterfinal of the French Open in 2022 where the Spaniard emerged victorious in four sets. Nadal enjoys an upper hand over Djokovic on the clay courts. The Spaniard has a 20-8 record against the Serbian on the surface and will hope to add one more win during their Olympics clash.
Djokovic and Nadal have met in 29 finals across their career and the Serbian has been more successful, having won 16 times as compared to Nadal's 13 wins. The duo has played some iconic finals including the 2012 Australian Open which went on for 5 hours and 52 minutes.
During their meetings, Djokovic has won 78 sets compared to Nadal's 72. The Serbian has also won more games (741) than Nadal (718) during their high-octane encounters.
The Serbian has been dominant for a longer period over the Spaniard. Djokovic has managed a seven-match winning streak against Nadal twice in his career, from 2011-12 and '15-16. Meanwhile, Nadal's best winning streak against Djokovic came in 2008-09 when he won five matches in a row against the Serbian.
Notably, in their last 11 meetings at best-of-three-sets matches, the player to win the first set has gone on to win the match.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are statistically the two best tennis players of all time. Djokovic sits at the top of the mountain with 24 Grand Slam titles to his name, two more than Nadal. Both the players are now near the end of their careers and a second-round clash at the Olympics could well be the last time they face each other in a professional tournament.
Rafael Nadal labels Novak Djokovic as the 'favorite' in their Olympic showdown
All eyes in the tennis world are on the second-round match of Djokovic and Nadal as the two get set to face each other at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Djokovic eased past Matthew Ebden 6-0, 6-1 in the first round while Nadal had to work hard for his 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over Marton Fucsovics.
After his win against Fucsovics, Nadal claimed that Djokovic would start the match as the favorite despite his poor record against him on clay. The Spaniard further said that Djokovic is more competitive than him at the moment, while he is still struggling to achieve full fitness.
“Situations are completely different for him, for me. He’s being very competitive. I was not being very competitive for the last two years, so in that case, I think probably he is the clear favorite,” Nadal said.
Rafael Nadal won an Olympic gold medal at Beijing in 2008 while Novak Djokovic is still chasing his first gold medal, having won a bronze in his debut the same year.