Rafael Nadal is set to retire with one of the most illustrious resumes in ATP history. Apart from winning 22 Grand Slam titles and 36 Masters 1000 titles, Nadal has etched his name in the record books on multiple instances. One such impressive record is the positive overall head-to-head record against all but three players that he has faced in his 23-year career.
Novak Djokovic is often regarded as Nadal’s greatest archnemesis. The two faced off 60 times in their careers, with the majority of these clashes coming toward the tail end of the tournament. Till 2011, Nadal had a massive 16-7 head-to-head advantage.
However, the Serbian tied the tally at 23 apiece during the ATP World Tour Finals 2015. The duo last played during the Paris Olympics 2024, with Nole emerging victorious. The glorious rivalry between the two is set to end 31-29 in Djokovic’s favor.
Only two other players have a positive head-to-head record against Nadal despite facing him at least five times. One would assume Roger Federer, Andy Murray, or Stan Wawrinka would be on that list. However, the remaining two players to achieve this feat are quite surprising – Nikolay Davydenko and Borna Coric.
Players to have faced Nadal at least five times and have a positive H2H record vs him:
Novak Djokovic 31-29
Nikolay Davydenko 6-5
Borna Coric 3-2End of the list
— Luigi Gatto (@gigicat7_) October 14, 2024
Coric has a 3-2 record against the Mallorca native. His 6-1, 6-3 victory in the Cincinnati Masters 2016 remains to be the most dominant win of all.
Rafa had a 3-2 lead in his head-to-head battles against Davydenko. However, during the final few years of his career, the Russian was simply unstoppable when playing against Nadal. From 2009-2011, Davydenko won each of the four matches that they played – including the Shanghai Masters 2009 finals and the Doha Open 2010 finals. The former World No.3 ultimately retired with a 6-5 H2H record against Rafa.
Davydenko wasn’t intimidated when facing Nadal
As surprising as it seems, Davydenko also claimed Nadal to be “just another opponent” when looking back at their duels.
Nadal took very little time to become one of the best players on the tour. His aggressive style of play instilled fear in his opponents. However, Davydenko wasn’t intimidated by Nadal.
In an interview from 2022, the former player had an interesting take on his battles with the Spaniard.
“For me, playing against Nadal on hard felt like playing against just another opponent… In tennis, it is about matchups – my game matched up well with Nadal’s on hardcourts, I had no problems with him,” Davydenko said.
Davydenko retired with no Grand Slam titles. However, a 6-5 winning record against Rafa is one of the most impressive feats he’s achieved.
