Tennis legend Rafael Nadal Rivalries vs other great players

Rivalries


Nadal vs. Federer

Federer and Nadal have been playing each other since 2004, and their rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers.

They held the top two rankings on the ATP Tour from July 2005 until 14 August 2009, when Nadal fell to world No. 3 (Andy Murray became the new No. 2). They are the only pair of men to have ever finished four consecutive calendar years at the top. Nadal ascended to No. 2 in July 2005 and held this spot for a record 160 consecutive weeks before surpassing Federer in August 2008.

They have played 29 times, and Nadal leads their head-to-head series 19–10 overall and 8–2 in Grand Slam tournaments. Fourteen of their matches have been on clay, which is statistically Nadal's best surface and statistically Federer's worst surface. Federer has a winning record on grass (2–1) and indoor hard courts (4–0) while Nadal leads the outdoor hard courts by 6–2 and clay by 12–2.

Because tournament seedings are based on rankings, 19 of their matches have been in tournament finals, including an all-time record 8 Grand Slam tournament finals. From 2006 to 2008, they played in every French Open and Wimbledon final, and also met in the title match of the 2009 Australian Open and the 2011 French Open. Nadal won six of the eight, losing the first two Wimbledon finals. Three of these matches were five set-matches (2007 and 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 Australian Open), and the 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match ever by many long-time tennis analysts. They have also played in a 9 Masters Series finals


Nadal vs. Djokovic  

Djokovic and Nadal have met 33 times (which is the sixth-most head-to-head-to-head meetings in the Open Era) with Nadal having a 19–14 advantage. Nadal leads on grass 2–1 and clay 12–2, but Djokovic leads on hard courts 11–5. In 2009, this rivalry was listed as the third greatest of the previous 10 years by ATP worldtour.com. Djokovic is one of only two players to have at least ten match wins against Nadal (the other being Federer) and the only person to defeat Nadal seven consecutive times and two times consecutively on clay. The two earlier shared the record for the longest match played in a best of three sets (4 hours and 3 minutes) at the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals until the match between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro in the London 2012 Olympics Semifinal, which is the longest best-of-three-set match by time (at 4 hours and 26 minutes). In the 2011 Wimbledon final, Djokovic won in four sets 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3, for his first slam final over Nadal. Djokovic also defeated Nadal in the 2011 US Open Final. In 2012, Djokovic defeated Nadal in the Australian Open final for a third consecutive slam final win over Nadal. This was the longest Grand Slam tournament final in Open era history at 5 hrs, 53 mins. Nadal won their last three meetings in the final of Monte Carlo Masters, Rome Masters and French Open in April, in May and in June 2012, respectively


  Nadal vs. Murray  

  Nadal and Andy Murray have met on 18 occasions since 2007, with Nadal leading 13–5. Nadal leads 4–0 on clay, 3–0 on grass and 6–5 on hard courts. The pair regularly meet at Grand level, with eight out of their eighteen meetings coming in slams, with Nadal leading 6–2 (3–0 at Wimbledon, 1–0 at the French Open, 1–1 at the Australian Open & 1–1 at the). Seven of these eight appearances have been at Quarter-final and Semi-final level, making the rivalry an important part of both men's careers. They have never met in a Slam final, however, Murray leads 2–1 in ATP finals, with Nadal winning at Indian Wells in 2009 and Murray winning in Rotterdam the same year and Tokyo  in 2011. Murray lost three consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals to Nadal in 2011 from the French Open to the US Open. Amazingly, of the past 19 Grand Slam drawsheets, they have been drawn in the same half 16 times. The pair did not meet in 2012, having been scheduled to meet in the semi-final of the Miami Masters before Nadal withdrew with injury.