The tennis rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is the most prolific in men's tennis in the Open Era. It is widely considered by players, coaches, and pundits to be among the greatest rivalries in tennis history. The pair have contested at least one professional match every year since 2006, and the ATP Tour listed the rivalry as the third-greatest of the 2000s decade, despite only starting in 2006.
The two have faced each other 59 times, including in all four major finals, with Djokovic leading 30–29 overall. Djokovic leads 15–13 in finals of all levels, while Nadal leads 11–7 at the majors, including 5–4 in major finals. Nadal leads 8–2 at the French Open and 2–1 at the US Open, while Djokovic leads 2–0 at the Australian Open and 2–1 at Wimbledon. To date, Djokovic is the only player to have beaten Nadal in all four majors.
Of their 59 meetings, 27 matches have been on hard courts with Djokovic leading 20–7, 28 on clay with Nadal leading 20–8, and 4 on grass where they are tied 2–2.
The first meeting occurred at the 2006 French Open in the quarterfinals, where Nadal prevailed after Djokovic retired with an injury in the third set; Djokovic later commented to the media that he understood what he needed to do to beat Nadal and claiming Nadal "was beatable on clay". Their first encounter in a final came at the 2007 Indian Wells Masters where Nadal won the event. Djokovic's first victory came in their third meeting against each other at the 2007 Miami Masters where he won the event.
Between 2006 and 2009, this rivalry was overshadowed by Nadal's rivalry with Roger Federer. It started to become widely recognized when the pair contested their first major final at the 2010 US Open. From March 2011 to April 2013, the pair contested eleven consecutive tournament finals, with Djokovic winning eight and Nadal three, the only duo to achieve such a feat in the Open Era. It is one of two rivalries in men's tennis (the other one being the Djokovic-Murray rivalry) to involve meetings in the finals of all four majors, including four consecutive finals in 2011–12, and a record 29 Masters matches. Their French Open rivalry alone consists of ten matches, an Open Era record between two players at a single tournament.
Some of their matches are considered to be classics and among the greatest matches of all time including the 2009 Madrid Masters semifinal, 2011 Miami Masters final, the 2012 Australian Open final, the 2013 French Open semifinal, 2018 Wimbledon semifinal, and the 2021 French Open semifinal. Their 2012 Australian Open final has been lauded as the greatest match ever played by some long-time tennis pundits, analysts, and former players and legends of the sport.
History
2006
The first meeting between the two, and the only one in 2006, was in the quarterfinals at the French Open. The victory went to Nadal via a retirement from Djokovic after Nadal took the first two sets.
2007
In 2007, the pair met seven times, Nadal winning five of them.
The first encounter came in the final of the Indian Wells Masters. This was Djokovic's first Masters final whereas Nadal was bidding for his 7th title. Nadal won the match. Djokovic, however, got his revenge the following week, defeating Nadal for the first time, in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters.
The pair met twice during the summer clay-court season, with Nadal continuing his dominance on clay. He defeated Djokovic en route to the title in the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters. Similarly, Nadal defeated Djokovic in the semifinals of the French Open a month later, in Djokovic's first major semifinal. They then met for the first time on grass in the semifinals of Wimbledon. After splitting the first two sets, Djokovic retired from the match due to a foot injury.
At the Canada Masters, Djokovic scored his second victory over Nadal, defeating the Spaniard in the semifinals en route to his second Masters title.
The final encounter between the two in 2007 was in the round robin phase Tennis Masters Cup, with Nadal emerging victorious.
2008
Djokovic and Nadal met six times in 2008, with Nadal winning four of their encounters.
Djokovic defeated Nadal in the semifinals at Indian Wells Masters.
Nadal defeated Djokovic in the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters. In their third consecutive meeting at the French Open, a dominant Nadal defeated Djokovic in the semifinals en route to his fourth consecutive French Open title.
Next, they met in the final at the Queen's Club in London, where Nadal won his first grass-court title over Djokovic 7–6, 7–6.