Rafael Nadal said that he hasn’t yet congratulated Novak Djokovic on his achievement of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
The Australian Open, French Open, and US Open were Djokovic’s three Major victories this year. He tied Nadal in Melbourne for the most Grand Slam victories with 22. He passed the Spaniard in Paris and most recently won a Major in New York, setting a record for the Open Era.
While many past and current players have openly lauded Djokovic for his historic accomplishment, Nadal has said that he has not yet approached the 36-year-old to offer his congratulations.
Nadal revealed this during a conversation and said: “The truth is that I haven’t sent any message to Djokovic yet out of pure ignorance. When you win something so important, from experience I know it’s better to take the time to appreciate that message. I’ll send it but I haven’t done it yet.”
The former world No. 1 said that he occasionally interacts with the now-retired Roger Federer and explained that he doesn’t have many friends on the ATP tour because he belongs to a different generation.
He added: “Of course, I sent messages to Carlos Alcaraz when he won or when he was about to win. The others… on the circuit I don’t have many friends left, I’m from another generation. I talk to Federer every now and then.”
Novak Djokovic in 2023
At the moment ranked no.1, Novak played his last match on the 15th of September when he overcame world no.25 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-4 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
During this season the Serbian has a composed 46-5 record. Novak has won 5 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open, French Open, Cincinnati and U.S. Open. Djokovic was the runner-up in Wimbledon.
Rafael Nadal in 2023
Currently ranked no.237, Nadal played his last match on the 18th of January when he surrendered to world no.39 Mackenzie Mcdonald 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the 2nd round of the Australian Open (draw).
This season the Spaniard has a compiled 1-3 win-loss record.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal squared off 59 times. Their actual head to head record is 30-29 for Djokovic. Previously, 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.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal |
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