Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have arguably had the greatest rivalry men’s tennis has ever seen. The Serbian leads by the barest of margins, 30-29 on head-to-head, with their 59th clash against each other being in the French Open 2022 quarterfinal in which Nadal prevailed. More often than not, there isn’t much to choose between both of them since their matches go right down to the wire.
One of their most intensely contested matches was the Rogers Cup 2013 semi-final. Djokovic was the defending champion in Montreal, having won the title back-to-back in 2011 and 2012. He was up against Nadal, who was aiming to find some form ahead of the US Open that year. As the 10th anniversary of that match is barely 4 days away, here is a throwback to the time when the match got known for tempers flying all over the place.
Rafael Nadal stunned Novak Djokovic with his pass shot
In 2013, the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry was at the peak of its powers. Nadal was 27, while Djokovic was 26 and both were vying for the World No.1 spot.
Nadal and Djokovic both played an extremely aggressive style of tennis, pounding shots one after another on the baseline mainly. In the battle of power, the Spaniard took the first set, 6-4. But as expected by many, Djokovic bounced back to make it 6-3 in the second set.
However, against what is normally recommended on hard courts, Nadal went with his gut to play drop shots just like he has done over the years on clay courts. One of those shots turned out to be one of the most pivotal moments of the match. At 6-4, 3-6, 2-2 with the game evenly poised at 30-30, Nadal went for a backhand drop shot which made Djokovic respond by playing a drop of his own.
That forced Nadal to run near the net as well. On the run, the 22-time Grand Slam champion intended to played a backhand pass shot. But the direction and pace of the shot was such that Djokovic was forced to take evasive action and the ball hit his face. On seeing that, although Nadal won the point, he immediately apologized to his opponent.
Remarkably though, Djokovic did not take Nadal’s apology well, frowning at him as he walked back to the baseline in anger. Nadal could not believe it, reacting with dismay as the crowd seemed to boo the Serbian for allegedly showing poor sportsmanship.
Rafael Nadal won the semi-final, much to the delight of the Montreal crowd. As the legends went on to shake each other’s hand, Nadal was again heard apologizing to Djokovic for that particular point. However, Djokovic then seemingly took it well in his stride with a smile and congratulating the Spanish star for his win.
Nadal went to lift the Rogers Cup and a month later, beat Djokovic once again in the US Open final, marking one of the greatest comebacks ever seen. This is because Nadal had skipped the second half of the 2012 season and largely played the first half of the 2013 season in discomfort due to a career-threatening injury. Perhaps the Montreal semi-final was a huge shot in the arm for Nadal, who had not beaten Djokovic in 7 back-to-back hard court matches prior to that one.
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Who is richer – Nadal or Djokovic?
Many fans have raised this query and the answer to this apparently is both the players are almost level. The Novak Djokovic net worth figure as of July 2023 stood at $220 million according to Evening Standard. And the Rafael Nadal net worth figure also stands remarkably somewhere around $220 million as per Spanish publication, Marca.
Even when it comes to overall income and earnings, both Nadal and Djokovic have amassed minimum of $500 million each according to Forbes in 2022. The only difference between the two is that Djokovic has won more prize money on the court than Nadal, with his $171 million being ahead of the Spaniard’s $135 million.
