Novak Djokovic won his 40th Masters 1000 title in Paris recently and after the final on Sunday, he seemingly took an indirect dig at his biggest rival, Rafael Nadal. Djokovic said in a press conference that at least he is honest and transparent about his ambitions and goes through with it rather than players who claim that they do not play for records but actually do the total opposite. The Djokovic comment came weeks after Nadal claimed in an interview that Djokovic would have been more frustrated than him if he had not won more Grand Slams.
The dynamic between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal seems to be quite a strange one. Here is how it can potentially be broken down into a timeline.
2009 – Novak Djokovic impersonated Rafael Nadal in front of him
It was after the Rome Masters 2009 final when Novak Djokovic decided to mimic Rafael Nadal post the presentation ceremony. Djokovic was sporting enough to have a sense of humour, which Nadal seemed to like seeing the smile he flashed after the mimicry. Nadal had won that final in straight sets while at the time, Djokovic’s profile was not at par with the Spaniard’s.
Novak Djokovic then decided to do an encore 3-4 years later on the sidelines of what seemed to be an event in Spain or a European country. With Rafael Nadal on the opposite side of the court, the Serb on that instance actually imitated Nadal’s serve and the top-spin heavy forehand. Then too, Nadal looked to be in approval as he was laughing during the mimicry, as the crowd was amused as well. This proved that perhaps Nadal and Djokovic were still amicable at the time.
2010 – When Nadal lauded Djokovic’s graciousness after US Open final
In his autobiography, Rafael Nadal had some kind words for Novak Djokovic, lauding his ability to keep the bitter feeling of losing a Grand Slam final aside. Instead, Djokovic raced to Nadal’s side of the court to congratulate him. Nadal called Djokovic’s behaviour in the presentation ceremony ‘great class’ by acknowledging his praise for him. In turn, the Spaniard too had urged aspiring tennis players to learn more from the Serb than him when it comes to his attitude towards losing.
“Novak Djokovic—or “Nole,” as I call him, as do his fans, friends, and family—is all of these things already. Extraordinarily gracious at a moment so bitter for him, he didn’t wait for me at the net but came over to my side of the court and embraced me, congratulated me on what I had done,” the Spaniard wrote in ‘Rafa: My Story.’“I also made a point of acknowledging Nole’s attitude in defeat, and what a great example he set to kids everywhere. I said I was sure he’d be winning this trophy very soon, as I am sure he will continue to be a fearsome rival in the years to come. But this was my moment,” he wrote.
In fact, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic also played doubles together on a rare occasion in Toronto in the North American swing of 2010, which delighted tennis fans in Roger Federer’s absence.
2013 – Djokovic’s father accused Nadal of jealousy
In a shock interview, Novak Djokovic’s father Srdjan slammed both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, claiming that they were jealous of his son’s rise in the tennis world. Particularly when it came to Nadal, Srdjan accused him of being a bad sport, stating that Nadal was Djokovic’s good friend when he beat him more often. However, when Djokovic started defeating him more often (presumably since 2011), Nadal became sour towards him.
Rafael Nadal was clearly ruffled with those comments and hit back at his father, denying the accusations. Nadal instead asked Srdjan to rather ask his son about how well they got along. Perhaps, Srdjan’s statements might have caused the first dent in the Nadal-Djokovic equation, which may have blown up later.
Cut to 2023 and Novak Djokovic himself had similar words about how his relations with Rafael Nadal deteriorated. In an interview for ESPN with John McEnroe after his US Open 2023 win, Djokovic said that the Spaniard stopped liking the impersonations he did of his once he started ‘kicking his a**’ more and was not as friendly with him as in the past.
2015 – Rafael Nadal was salty about his French Open loss to Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic was the man to break Rafael Nadal’s French Open dominance in 2015, on his way to achieve one of the most dominant seasons of all-time by any tennis player. Djokovic beat an uncharacteristically out of sorts Nadal in the quarterfinals in straight sets. After the match, Nadal said that the defeat was always a possibility as he did not have a great start to 2015.
Although Rafael Nadal admirably and correctly insisted that the 2015 loss was not his end like in 2009, his promise of fighting his way back to the top on the Tour seemed to be more like a message to Novak Djokovic. Nadal did not once praise Djokovic for his performance, which the tennis world was stunned to see.
2019 – When Rafael Nadal supported Roger Federer over Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal has gone to admit publicly that during the marathon Wimbledon 2019 final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, he supported the Swiss maestro. Nadal said that he was crushed and felt terrible when Federer could not close out a 5-set thriller against Djokovic.
Supposedly, in the mid-2010s, the friendship between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer off the court blossomed more due to regular ATP Council meetings and the duo inviting each other to launch or encourage their initiatives. With Novak Djokovic largely perceived as the ‘third wheel’ who took the charm off Nadal and Federer, the Spaniard’s support for the 20-time champion does not come as a surprise.
April 2020 – Djokovic opted to support Nadal’s Covid-19 initiative
When Covid-19 struck the world significantly in the start of 2020, Novak Djokovic won hearts with a class act. He donated a large sum of money to Rafael Nadal and Pau Gasol’s initiative for raising funds for the Spanish Red Cross to treat patients with the disease.
Nadal and Djokovic obviously met up in Spain at the time and the Spaniard thanked the Serb on social media for his humble and generous gesture.
September-October 2020 – Nadal slammed Djokovic for PTPA and US Open disqualification
Reportedly, Novak Djokovic thought that his relations with Rafael Nadal were at a high, as he wanted him to be a part of his new venture back then, the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA). However, Nadal perhaps had the belief that he stood more to lose than to gain in rebelling against the ATP, being an integral part of the ATP Players Council as well. Also the issue of player rights was not a priority for players such as Nadal and Federer.
As a result, Rafael Nadal took to social media to oppose Novak Djokovic forming the PTPA, calling for ‘unity in tough times’ instead. Roger Federer famously supported the 22-time Grand Slam champion, which clearly isolated Novak Djokovic from his contemporaries.
Besides the PTPA issue, Rafael Nadal was not pleased with Novak Djokovic furiously hitting the ball away after losing a point in the US Open 2020. It accidentally almost injured a lineswoman horribly, which made the chair umpire disqualify Djokovic from the tournament. Nadal changed his sentiments from a decade ago, calling out Djokovic for setting a bad example for audiences and youngsters with such an act.
June 2021 – Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had a locker room laugh
Although Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the 2021 French Open semifinals, as per the Serb, the duo shared a sweet moment after the match. Djokovic and Nadal both agreed on one point – They both were going nowhere and were adamant on giving the youngsters a hard time when it comes to winning big titles in years to come.
January 2022 – Nadal slammed Djokovic for vaccine controversy
Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia in early 2022 due to apparently lying in his documents about some important information regarding his Covid-19 vaccination. Djokovic had not taken a vaccine and was still hoping to defend his Australian Open title. However, that was not to be as the Serb was not bowing down from his stand.
Rafael Nadal did feel for Novak Djokovic, but did not take his side publicly by saying that he should have known before creating such a ruckus.
“He made his own decisions, and everybody is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences. In some way I feel sorry for him. But at the same time, he knew the conditions since a lot of months ago, so he makes his own decision.”
May 2023 – Djokovic makes a huge Nadal admission
Novak Djokovic was sporting enough to admit at the French Open 2023 that he was relieved to not face Rafael Nadal, who had to sit out of the tournament due to his hip injury. And yet, the Serb believes that ‘a part of him would leave him’ the day Nadal decides to retire from professional tennis for good.
October 2023 – Nadal and Djokovic have new war of words
Rafael Nadal claimed in an interview after Novak Djokovic’s 2023 US Open win that the Serb is more obsessed than him when it comes to being ahead in Grand Slam and big titles. However, hitting back at Nadal, Djokovic said that his obsession is more of a passion and that he did not agree with the Spaniard’s views while showing respect to him for being a great player.
More recently, Djokovic did take a more direct dig at Nadal by saying that players are not honest about their goals that they communicate to the public vis-a-vis what they actually play for. The Serb perhaps meant that Nadal too is a player who is behind records.
