In an era of great rivalries between the four men who have dominated the rankings, Grand Slams and the elite tier of the tour—Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray—it is not the one to first capture the imagination that has come to dominate 21st century tennis.
For while Federer and Nadal held the top two rankings for the better part of five years, accounted for around 20 Grand Slam titles between them during the same period, and contested a similar number of Major finals, these two have met ‘only’ 33 times.
No, the rivalry that now holds sway is not just the most played between the four but the most played in the Open era.
When Nadal and Djokovic took up arms on the final afternoon of the 2014 French Open, it was for a remarkable 42nd time, dating back eight years.
What’s more, that first meeting in 2006 was also in Paris, one of what was about to become six Roland Garros contests.
Initially, it was the Spaniard who led the rivalry, winning 14 of their first 18 matches. But come 2009, there came too a subtle shift. After losing a gripping four-hour, three-set battle in Madrid that year, Djokovic went on to win 15 of their subsequent 23 matches.
What’s more, while Djokovic was yet to beat Nadal at the French Open—though only one man had ever done so in Nadal’s 66 Roland Garros matches—there was no question that he was hot on the Spaniard’s heels.
In the 2012 final, Djokovic won his first set; last year, he was 4-2 up in the fifth set before a collision with the net turned the match back in Nadal’s favour. And twice Djokovic had beaten the king of clay in the Rome Masters final—including last month—and beat him in the Monte Carlo final last year, too.
Despite Nadal’s 24-3 run on clay this year, Djokovic was still arguably the form player of the last nine months. After losing the US Open final, the Serb went on an unbeaten surge through Beijing, the Shanghai and Paris Masters and the World Tour Finals. Even impeded by a wrist injury during the early stages of this year’s clay season, he arrived at Roland Garros with three Masters titles to his name—Indian Wells, Miami and Rome—and a 19-1 record on clay, to trail Nadal by just a few hundred points in the rankings.
And that meant victory in Paris would bring double Djokovic delight: the completion of his career Grand Slam and the No1 ranking.
But eight-time and defending champion Nadal had his own incentives: a 14th Major to equal Pete Sampras at second on the all time list; the first man in history to win nine titles at any Grand Slam; the first to claim five successive crowns at Roland Garros. Would the pressure of maintaining his unique French Open presence prove too much or would his passion for clay and for Paris lift
him to victory again?
There was nothing in it for the first 25 minutes, with neither vulnerable on serve, 17 points each, 3-3. Djokovic faced the first deuce but safely held for 4-3, but all at once, Nadal started to make uncharacteristic errors, leaking his usually dominant forehand wide time and again. One such shot conceded a break.
Nadal looked more dangerous as Djokovic served for the set, going 30-0 up. But the Serb continued what looked like a winning tactic of staying aggressive, and made a first serve-and-volley winner. He made drop-shots and angled drives, and another forehand error from Nadal missed a chance to break: the game and set went to Djokovic, 6-3. It was the first time the Serb had made the first strike over Nadal at Roland Garros.
But this was the French Open and its greatest champion, and by the fifth game in the second set, there were ominous signs that the Spaniard was finding his intensity, rhythm, and forehand. Serving first, he took a 3-2 lead and given the chance to break in the next, danced backwards to fire his signature forehand cross-court to break.
But as quickly as it arrived, the forehand disappeared, and Djokovic broke back. The Serb tried his serve-and-volley play again to level 5-5 but Nadal made the first love hold since the first of the match and pummelled Djokovic with his forehand, first one side and then the other, to break for the set, 7-5. He let out a huge, pumping “Vamos”. They may have had 63 points each, but there was no doubt where the momentum lay.
Nadal raced to 3-0 lead in the third set, holding to love with an ace. He survived a break chance in the next, but then came perhaps the decisive game of the match, an 11-minute marathon of five deuces that had Nadal chasing and retrieving for his life. He rushed the net to save a first break point and drew a frustrated error from Djokovic to hold. He finished the job with a break for the set, 6-2.
Djokovic looked drained—from frustration, perhaps, though he also seemed physically below par. However, Nadal too began to look troubled, by a back problem that had flared up earlier in the tournament. He bent down to flex it several times in the fourth set, and his serve became more ragged. It did not seem to affect his terrier-like chasing and he broke first, but he could not reach back for a baseline smash in the next game and Djokovic broke back.
The next two games were grinding affairs, both men taking a long time before every serve, both facing deuce, but come the 10th, the match rushed to it conclusion as Djokovic seemed unable to resist any more. On break point, and troubled by shouts from the crowd, he double faulted. Nadal fell to his knees in tears—of joy certainly, but it felt like relief as well—as he took the title, 6-4.
There followed one of the most emotional ceremonies between these two rivals: Djokovic could barely handle a long standing ovation from the crowd, Nadal let tears fall during his national anthem.
For Djokovic, then, the fight for the elusive title and the career Slam will go on: He promised the crowd that he would be back year after year until he won it.
For Nadal, it added to an unparalleled catalogue of clay and French Open achievements:
Nine titles from 10 Roland Garros appearances; The first to win five in a row in Paris; Second on the list of Grand Slam titles, 14, and Grand Slam finals, 20; The only man ever to win nine titles at any one Grand Slam; A winning streak of 35 matches at Roland Garros, and now a 66-1 win-loss record.
The icing on the cake, as if he needed any, was confirmation of the No1 ranking as the tour leaves clay and heads to grass.
Not a bad day’s work.