When asked about his longstanding rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s contributions to tennis, Novak Djokovic said that the tennis community misses them.
The Big Three—Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal ruled the sport continuously. The three have a combined total of 66 major titles, and several of their matches are regarded as some of the greatest tennis matches of all time.
However, the Big Three eventually split twelve months ago when Federer announced his retirement in September 2022, ending years of record-breaking and historical accomplishments. This breakdown continued as Nadal missed the majority of the ATP Tour season this year due to injury and said that the 2024 campaign might be his last.
Djokovic expressed his thoughts about his rivals during a conversation: “I don’t know if I miss them. But I’m sure tennis misses them. These two are legends of our sport. They left a very great legacy both in tennis and in sports in general.”
Novak Djokovic in 2023
Ranked world no.1, the Serbian played his last match on the 15th of September when he defeated world no.25 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-4
in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).At present, during this year the Serbian owns an overall 46-5 win-loss record. Novak conquered 5 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open, French Open, Cincinnati and U.S. Open. Djokovic reached the final in Wimbledon.
Rafael Nadal in 2023
Currently the world no.239, Rafael played his last match on the 18th of January when he was defeated by world no.39 Mackenzie Mcdonald 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the 2nd round of the Australian Open (draw).
This season the Spaniard owns a composed 1-3 win-loss record.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played each other 59 times. Their record is 30-29 for Djokovic. The last time they competed against each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6(4) in the quarter in Paris (French Open) in May 2022.
Here the video highlights.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal |
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