Can Nadal conquer the Australian Open despite his H2H record vs Djokovic?

Nadal has the opportunity to match Federer's slam record at the Australian Open. However, that will be extremely tricky

H2H Nadal Djokovic and Australian Open

At 33 years of age, Rafael Nadal is experiencing a rather interesting moment of his career as he has the opportunity to match Roger Federer’s slam record if he wins the upcoming Australian Open.

The Spanish sensation is currently ranked no.1 and he has won the last slam on hard court at the US Open. However, in New York, even if Rafa played a fantastic tournament, he didn’t have to face Novak Djokovic that had to withdraw because of a problem to his left shoulder.

Nadal, Djokovic and the Australian Open.

The King of Clay had an impressive run last year in Melbourne, where he reached the final without conceding a single set on the way after trashing almost all his opponent. Surprisingly, Nadal was blown away in the final in straight-set by a superlative Novak Djokovic.

The result is that even if Rafa has just won the US Open demonstrating once again that he is a formidable competitor also on hard courts, he is considered only as the favorite no.2 at the Australian Open after Djokovic.

H2H Nadal DjokovicEven a well-known betting company (bet365) quotes Nadal at 4.50 while Djokovic is currently quoted at 2.75.

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H2H Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic

It’s interesting to notice also that while Nadal and Djokovic are almost even in the head to head matches with the Serbian leading 28-26, the story is completely different on hard courts. In fact, the world no.2 leads the Spaniard 19-6 on hard courts: 15-5 on outdoor courts and 4-1 indoor.

Therefore, once again, it seems that Rafa’s destiny to match Roger Federer in Melbourne depends not only on his own tennis, but also on the conditions of Novak Djokovic that if fully fit has the upper hand on the Spaniard, at least on paper.

What about Federer and the Next Gen?

In his quest for slam glory, the Mallorcan also needs to take into account 2 more factors: Federer and the next gen.

Rafa used to dominate the Swiss Maestro for the best part of their career. However, in recent years, something has changed, and Roger defeated his old nemesis 7 of the last 8 times, with the only obvious exception being their recent French Open semifinal.

In addition, Nadal will also have to face the new upcoming next gen. Even if he has a formidable record against Medvedev (3-0 the head to head), Tsitsipas (5-1), and Zverev (5-1), it is widely expected that they are going to take over from the Big3 any time soon.

This Australian Summer is going to be extremely interesting.

Nadal in London, ranking, and results in 2019

Rafael Nadal Stats info

Now the world no.1, the Spaniard has a 52-7 win-loss record in 2019. Nadal ended his run in the round robin after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-74 6-4 7-5.

 

Novak Djokovic’s ranking and performance in 2019

Novak Djokovic Stats info

Ranked no.2, Novak played his last match on the 14th of November when he lost to Roger Federer 6-4 6-3 in the Round Robin in London.

This year Novak has a 54-11 win-loss record. Djokovic has won 5 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open, in Madrid, in Wimbledon, in Tokyo and in Paris. Djokovic was the finalist in Rome.

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic played each other 54 times. The head to head is 28-26 for Djokovic.

The last time that they fought against each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-0 4-6 6-1 in the final in Rome on the 19th May 2019.

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