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 that first captured the imagination that has become the biggest.
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 over tennis is not just the most played between the four but the most played in the Open era.
Until this week, Nadal and Djokovic had met 40 times, dating back eight years. Initially, it was the Spaniard, the elder by almost a year, who led the rivalry, winning 14 of their first 18 matches. But come 2009, there came too a subtle shift in the balance. Djokovic won 22 of the next 36 and as they took to the glorious orange rectangle at the heart of Rome’s Foro Italico, they were separated by just four games—and Djokovic had won the last three in straight sets.
But the Serb’s problem has been the same as everyone else’s when it comes to Nadal and clay-court tennis. Djokovic had won only three of their 16 matches on the red stuff, though one of them was at this very tournament in his remarkable No1-claiming run through 10 titles in 2011.
And much else showed that, despite his record against Nadal, Djokovic’s prowess on clay has been impressive, boasting eight titles, two in Rome, on the dirt. And last year, the Serb had all but got the clay win of his career over Nadal in the French Open semi-finals. That title, the only one missing from his Grand Slam resume, has been Djokovic’s declared target ever since.
But what of Rome this year? Neither Djokovic nor Nadal had been at the top of their game, nor scored the number of wins they had become used to during Europe’s clay season. Neither made the Monte Carlo final—and Djokovic would not play on clay again as he nursed a wrist injury. Nadal then fell to Nicolas Almagro for the first time in his career in the quarters of one of his most beloved tournaments, Barcelona, and although he went on to win Madrid, he was on the ropes until Kei Nishikori was forced to retire with a back injury.
Come Rome, both men were slow to hit their stride in the tournament. Twice Djokovic was forced to come back from a set down, three times he had to play three-setters to advance. As for Nadal, his own three three-setters were among the four longest of the tournament.
After his gruelling semi-final against Milos Raonic the day before, Djokovic was certainly slow to hit his stride in the final. He served first but was the first broken, and after almost 20 minutes, Nadal led 3-1. As the Djokovic unforced errors cranked up to 10, Nadal broke again but his opponent gradually began to string together cleaner shots.
Benefitting from a lucky net cord winner on break point in the sixth game, he won eight points in 10 to close the gap to 3-4. He looked to stretch that run at 0-40 in the next game, too—Nadal a little slow to adjust his game against the improving Djokovic—but the Spaniard quickly regrouped to take the next five points and maintain a 5-3 advantage.
Despite being called for a time violation, Nadal served out what had been set of varying quality, 6-4, but both men had hit almost twice as many errors as winners.
Djokovic gradually continued his improvement, though. On the dot of an hour, he broke with a stunning cross-court forehand winner that had Nadal rooted to the spot, and switched to his signature down-the-line backhand to open the next game.
From 3-0 up, however, he conceded his lead with a distracted couple of errors, but his impressive concentration was quickly back in place and his ball striking clinical. His ruthless tactics forced Nadal wide to his backhand wing before delivering the killer blow, more often than not to within inches of the lines. Djokovic broke again and served out the set, 6-3.
Nadal has not been a seven-time champion in Rome for nothing, though. He tried drop shots, rushed the net for some big put-aways, and continued with each set to improve his first-serve level. By the third, it was up to 78 percent, but against outstanding return-of-serve strikes from Djokovic, he was able to win only half the points and was broken in the opening game.
Nadal resisted more pressure in the third, just, and upped his level once more to hold the fifth game with a huge forehand winner. For a moment, the pressure was switched back onto Djokovic, and he was broken—but with eyes wide and intense, the Serb sank on his haunches to unleash another assault. It worked: He broke, seeming able to fire winners down both lines at will against one of the best movers on a clay court.
For good measure, Djokovic broke to take the set, 6-3, for a famous victory packed with fearsome and unrelenting shot-making. He ended, indeed, with 46 winners to 30 errors, while Nadal’s winners languished at 15 for an unusually profligate 27 errors.
And while Djokovic missed out on reclaiming the No1 ranking at the start of the clay season, he now has every chance of doing so at Roland Garros—and on this form and with this intensity, of sealing his career Grand Slam with the French title too.
As for the elite Masters tour, Djokovic can already claim to be the top man of the last 12 months, winning five of the last six 1000s he has played. Since losing to John Isner in the quarters of Cincinnati last year, the Serb has a 27-1 run in Masters, his only loss coming in the semis in Monte-Carlo to Federer. With his 19th Masters, he moves to within two of Federer’s second-place 21 on the Open era list.
Djokovic has not just impressed Rome with his tennis and determination this week, however. He—like Serena Williams and Nadal—gave their interviews on court in Italian, but the chorus of support he received as this match headed to its climax was more likely due to his pleas for help for the disaster that has struck him homeland and neighbouring Bosnia in the last few days.
To find out more or to make a donation, check Djokovic’s Twitter account or his website for details.