Nadal and Djokovic, the last classic

In announcing the withdrawal, surprisingly, recently, and in front of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as a final reference, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic They will face the final chapter, surely, of the great tennis classic of all time.

Never was there such a long and balanced conflict, with so much at stake, as the Spaniard and the Serbian have written in recent times, the two players with the most Grand Slam titles behind them. Both have maintained a rivalry that seems never-ending and is heading towards its end. Rafael Nadal, in a month, will definitely put down the racket that has brought so much success to the sport of Spain.

The rivalry between Nadal and Djokovic has surpassed other legends. He is above Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, Nadal against Roger Federer, Roy Emerson with Rod Laver or Jimmy Connors with Ivan Lendl. They all scored on one stage. But none of them exceeded the number of matches already arranged by the Spaniard and the tennis player from Belgrade.

Far from focus the recent emergence of the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Murcian Carlos Alcarazleaders of the new generation who have definitely ousted the survivors of the historic ‘Big Three’ from the top, the match between Nadal and Djokovic summed up their respective glorious records and their strength in the head-to-head matches they played. throughout sixty games.

He The victory achieved by the Serbian in Paris 2024, in the second Olympic round, was the thirty first victory over the player from Manacor. who was able to surpass his opponent in twenty-nine. A great equality was established by two of the best tennis players in history.

Statistics will not count the confrontation they will do in Riyadh, in the luxurious exhibition of the Six Kings Slam that ends this Saturday, which only focuses on official matches. It will be a duel, however, full of symbolism. For two decades they have dominated the sport, along with Federer, and aim to pay homage to history. In a final dance between the two players who monopolized the victories a month later Rafael Nadal, at the age of 38, ended his career at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.

surprisingly, The Spanish and the Balkans will serve as the opening act for the event’s grand final. Overtaken, respectively, by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who would later bid to win the exhibition, the veterans were in charge of finding consolation in the bid for third and fourth place.

The The last meeting included forty-six Grand Slam titles. Twenty-four from Djokovic, more than anyone else in history, and twenty-two from Rafael Nadalthe following list of achievements. The Serbian, now fourth in the world, has maintained his good competitive tone as shown by the Olympic gold earned in Paris. Without another victory or title so far in 2024, he maintains his form and faces his opponents, the tennis players who now dominate the competition.

This is not the case for Nadal, who has not played since being ousted by his on-court rival Phillipe Chatrier two and a half months ago. It is more difficult for the Spaniard to recover his good feelings and he is looking for his level for the Davis Cup event, his latest contribution to Spanish tennis.

Both starred in many finals, epic battles. Also in this relationship the Serbian wins in numbers. Djokovic won fifteen decisive matches. Nadal at thirteen. The Spaniard, once established on the circuit, enforced his law from the start, fourteen of the first eighteen confrontations between the two, from 2006 to 2009. Along the way, the Spaniard managed to knock his opponent down, even then still far from success. , the Rome Masters 1000, the Monte Carlo Masters 1000, the Indian Wells Masters 1000 and the Queens tournament.

But everything has changed since then. The Serbian began to grow and won ten of the next twelve head-to-head matches, seven of them in a row, with the finals of the 2011 US Open and Wimbledon and the 2012 Australian Open among his victories. Nadal regained his strength in the following matches and won six of the next seven.with finals at Masters 1000 tournaments, at Roland Garros and at the 2013 US Open.

Djokovic has played since the final in Beijing this season and has counted every match against Nadal as a win except at Roland Garros in 2014, although he snatched victory from him for the first time in Paris, at the clay Grand Slam, in the quarterfinals of 2015. Equality prevailed till the final stages.

Recent head-to-head matches have fallen on the Balearic Islands side. Since 2019, he has been superior in six of the eight duels before the Olympic event, especially on clay. But Djokovic has won two of the last three. At Roland Garros 2021, in the semifinals and at the Games. Thirty-one in all, to twenty-nine of the Spaniards.

Riyadh, in the consolcation duel of the grand exhibition event, contemplates the last front. The great classic of all time. The culmination of a historic era, unparalleled, in tennis. And on the verge of saying goodbye to one of the greatest, Rafael Nadal.