Although there is a lot of new and emerging talent in the tennis world, Rafael Nadal continues to be Novak Djokovic’s main rival. Since Rafael Nadal is not currently ranked second in the world, the issue has arisen, and some have questioned whether Carlos Alcarez should actually be viewed as Djokovic’s main rival.
Djokovic had the following point explaining why Nadal is his main rival: “I just feel Nadal, you know, the rivalry with Nadal is something that is difficult to eliminate just because someone is doing great things in the last year and a half, you know, Nadal has been the biggest rival and probably will remain the biggest rival,.
Djokovic "I can't call Alcaraz my main rival, my main rival is still Nadal. The rivalry with Nadal is something that's difficult to eliminate just because someone is doing great things in the last year and a half. Nadal's been the biggest rival, will remain the biggest rival" pic.twitter.com/qnm0GgG3Qt
— 井蛙堂 (@seiadoumogera) February 23, 2023
Novak Djokovic in 2023
At the moment ranked no.1, Novak played his last match on the 29th of January when he beat world no.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in the final of the Australian Open to win his 93rd career title.
Currently, during this season the Serbian has achieved a compiled 12-0 win-loss record. Djokovic has won 2 titles in 2023 in Adelaide and Australian Open.
He is also scheduled to play in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open) after Dubai. The main draw will start on the 27th of February.
Rafael Nadal in 2023
Ranked world no.6, Rafael played his last match on the 18th of January when he surrendered to world no.49 Mackenzie Mcdonald 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the 2nd round of the Australian Open (draw).
This year Nadal has managed to achieve a 1-3 win-loss record.
He is also scheduled to play in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open) after Dubai. The main draw will start on the 27th of February.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal squared off 59 times. Their actual head to head record is 30-29 for Djokovic. The last time they played, Rafael Nadal won 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6(4) in the quarter in Paris (French Open) in May 2022.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
Alcaraz in Rio De Janeiro, ranking, and results in 2023
At the moment ranked no.2, Alcaraz owns a compiled 5-0 win-loss record in 2023. Alcaraz is playing in Rio De Janeiro where he managed to beat the world no.556 Mateus Alves 6-4 6-4.
Carlos Alcaraz will play the world no.86 Fabio Fognini in the 2nd round on Thursday at 7:00 pm on QUADRA GUGA KUERTEN. Their head to head is 1-0 for Alcaraz.
Alcaraz conquered 1 title in 2023 in Buenos Aires.
Alcaraz won 7 titles in his career: 2 on hard courts and 5 on clay courts. (See the list of his titles)