In tennis, several rivalries have been born over the years. None more so consequential than the ones between the Big Three players i.e. Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer, Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic. The last one has its endearing place in tennis history. It only increased after both of them hired their respective coaches. This is how Nadal’s and Djokovic’s coaches somehow impacted their rivalry.
In December 2016, Rafael Nadal hired Carlos Moya, former World No. 1 and winner of the Roland Garros in 1998, as his coach. Three years later in 2019, Novak Djokovic hired Goran Ivanisevic as his coach. Ivanisevic will always remain the only player to win a Grand Slam as a wildcard entry when he won the 2001 Wimbledon.
Interestingly, Ivanisevic and Djokovic have more in common. Ivanisevic once ran out of bats during a match after smashing it multiple times. Djokovic too has an unenviable record of smashing his racket 62 times in his career, something that Nadal has never done.
But Rafael Nadal has not only beaten Novak Djokovic but also Goran Ivanisevic, that too twice. Both the wins were before Nadal turned 18. Ivanisevic is a legend in his own right but his losses against Nadal came back into popular consciousness after Nadal fans used them to fuel the Nadal-Djoker rivalry.
The first Nadal vs Ivanisevic clash first took place at the 2003 Miami Open. It was the second round match of the top half, when Rafael Nadal faced a then-aging, Goran Ivanisevic. Nadal was three months shy of turning 18, and Ivanisevic was more than 32 years old. Still, Ivanisevic had more experience. The match wasn’t completed since Ivanisevic was retired hurt. But Rafael Nadal won the first set 6-4, and no more set was played. Nadal got a walkover. It was still a major win for the youngster.
They met again a month later at the Estoril Open in Portugal. This time it was the first-round encounter and Ivanisevic had the perfect opportunity to take his revenge on the youngster. Nadal, who still wasn’t officially 18, beat Ivanisevic 6-4, 6-1 in the match and took a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head. Nadal winning both those matches was considered a huge upset back then.
Why was Rafael Nadal beating Goran Ivanisevic important to the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry?
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have faced each other 59 times in their career. Djokovic just leads the head-to-head count with 30 wins over Nadal’s 29 wins. In 2019, when Djokovic and Ivanisevic got together as a player-coach duo since his previous coach Marian Vajda didn’t just want to coach one player in the Grand Slams. It was a good move and it helped Djokovic perform well. But when an active Rafael Nadal is still playing, and he defeated the coach of his rival before he was 18, it is bound to get some traction.
Interestingly, Novak Djokovic also played against Nadal’s coach and former No. 1 player Carlos Moya. They met four times, with the honors split 2-2 among them. Djokovic doesn’t lead in this aspect and hence it didn’t create as much hype as Nadal beating Ivanisevic did. Rafael Nadal might be back for the French Open 2024, to which Djokovic said that he will still be a threat.
