Top 5 encounters between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic
While the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal rivalry might be more famous, the rivalry between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic has produced a higher number of mouth-watering encounters.
Attack against an impenetrable defense - Federer and Djokovic have played some thrilling encounters between themselves.
Their first meeting came way back in 2006, with Federer defeating a young Djokovic at Monte Carlo in three sets. The Swiss Maestro would go on to win their first 4 encounters before Djokovic got his first win against his nemesis at the ATP Masters Series in Canada in 2007.
Overall, the head to head is 25-22 in favour of Djokovic.
Let's take a look at the top 5 encounters between these two superstars:
Honourable mention: Indian Wells Final 2014
Djokovic defeated Federer in three thrilling sets to lift the Indian Wells crown. The scoreline was 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in favour of the Serb.
#5 Paris Masters 2018 Semifinal
Djokovic came into the encounter on a 22-match winning streak and was looking invincible. Federer, on the other hand, was not looking his best despite winning his 99th title at Basel just a week prior to their meeting in Paris. He had even lost to Djokovic just a month ago at Shanghai in straight sets.
However, he turned up big time in the semifinal encounter in Paris against Djokovic.
He played some great attacking tennis and was able to hold his serve throughout the match, saving as many as 12 break points. However, Djokovic was just a little better on the big points and edged Federer to win the match in 3 tough sets. This was also the longest ever 3-setter played between the two players.
With this win, Djokovic won his fourth straight match against the Swiss Maestro and extended his head-to-head with Federer to 25-22.
Djokovic went on to lose the final to 22-year-old Karen Khachanov in straight sets.
Result: Djokovic d. Federer 7-6(6), 5-7, 7-6(3)