Image Credits – Nadal: © Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports/ Federer and Djokovic: © Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports
Rafael Nadal recently commented in an interview with El Pais that for him, Roger Federer was the player who impressed him the most, even over Novak Djokovic. Calling the Swiss star an ’emotion’, Nadal even boldly claimed that his rivalry with Federer always superseded the one he had with Djokovic mainly due to their contrasting styles of play. However, Federer and Djokovic both proved to be the biggest thorns in the Spaniard’s success with a record that lasts till date when it comes to ATP events and Grand Slam finals.
Although Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are complete opposites as well in their style and approach towards the game, Rafael Nadal struggled against both of them in one major aspect. Beginning with Roger Federer, there was a time when he played Rafael Nadal in finals of nearly every event they participated in. Overall, Nadal and Federer played 24 tournament finals against each other. The 20-time Grand Slam champion beat the Spaniard in 10 of those finals.
Even as that number is lesser than Nadal’s success over him, Roger Federer has not beaten any other player in his career as much in tournament finals. Some of the most famous Roger Federer wins were the 2005 Miami Masters, 2006 and 2007 Wimbledon finals, 2017 Australian Open final and the 2017 Miami and Shanghai Masters finals respectively. Rafael Nadal was gracious to admit that Roger Federer reinvented himself after 2016 to get the upper hand over him in the final phase of their rivalry by making small but important changes.
Similarly, Novak Djokovic has not beaten any other player in tournament finals as many times as Rafael Nadal. Nadal and Djokovic clashed in 29 such clashes, despite the fact that Roger Federer started out much earlier and the Serb took time to find his peak. In 2011 itself, Djokovic beat Nadal in all the 6 finals they played against each other that year, with two of those being in the Wimbledon and US Open finals.
Overall, Novak Djokovic has won 16 out of the 29 finals against Rafael Nadal so far. Fans always remember their 2012 Australian Open final, which is the longest-ever professional tennis final match played till date, which was for 5 hours 53 minutes. The last time these two played in a final, was at the Rome Masters 2021, which Nadal won.
The player who comes second in this regard is Roger Federer. Djokovic beat Federer in 14 tournament finals out of the 20 they played, making the Serb’s record even more impressive. Arguably, Nadal played the current World No.1 better than Federer due to his combative and intense style of play besides his clay court prowess.
Moments when Roger Federer backed Rafael Nadal over Novak Djokovic
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have a greater friendship with each other than either of them have with Novak Djokovic. When asked about the GOAT debate in 2023, Roger Federer cautioned fans to never count out Rafael Nadal as long as he is playing. Federer rather questioned how big was Djokovic’s French Open win, which was a record 23rd Grand Slam title.
Turning back the clock to 2020, Rafael Nadal did not back Novak Djokovic moving away from the ATP Players Council to form the PTPA, which Nadal perceives as a rebel organisation which is unnecessary. Nadal took to social media to plead for unity and the post was liked and commented on by Roger Federer too.
Roger Federer picked Rafael Nadal as his doubles partner for his farewell match at the Laver Cup in 2022 in London. This was despite Novak Djokovic also being invited and a part of Team Europe. Federer has undoubtedly improved his relations with Djokovic in the final phase of his career, but has always taken a preference to Nadal due to being more communicative with each other.
