The Serb is younger than both Federer and Nadal, and in his early career he had lopsided losing records against both of them. However, from onwards he has dramatically overturned the dynamics, and now boasts of an upper hand in the head-to-head count against both.
The Nadal vs Djokovic rivalry is best exemplified by their titanic battle in the Australian Open final. The match, which lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes, featured numerous grueling rallies and was finally won by Djokovic after a true war of attrition. Djokovic is unfortunate to have been born in the Federer-Nadal era.
However, the most remarkable thing about the Serb is that he has carved out a Hall-of-Fame career for himself anyway; despite having to face Federer and Nadal in many of his biggest matches, he is still within touching distance of their Slam tallies.
This ability to challenge and eventually dominate the 2 GOAT candidates is what separates him from every other player in tennis history. There has never been an era in which 3 GOAT candidates were competing at the same time, and the fact that Djokovic has won so many titles despite being the youngest of the 3, while also achieving something that the other 2 haven't all 4 Slams at the same time , suggests that he may well end up as the greatest player of all time.
Another thing that makes Djokovic special is the way he reacts to adversity. He has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat numerous times, most memorably in the US Open semifinal against Federer where he saved 2 match points before going on to win.
That was jaw-dropping already, but Djokovic did a stunning repeat act a year later; in the US Open semifinal, again against Federer, he again saved 2 match points before going on to win.
The forehand return winner that he smacked to save the 2nd match point is possibly the most famous shot in tennis history. Djokovic has also faced plenty of turmoil in his personal life; he suffered severe lack of motivation after winning the French Open in , and went through demoralizing injuries and coach changes for much of and early which saw his ranking plummet outside the top But he put all that aside to win Wimbledon and the US Open in , thus re-establishing his position at the top of men's tennis.
New User posted their first comment. Log in. Open semifinal. How crazy is that!?! Watching Nadal run rings around the tennis world in must have left an impression on Djokovic. Losing to Nadal in the final of the U. Open the way he did would've hurt—it should have hurt. It's no surprise that nowadays he has such a visible desire to win.
No longer content with just being the "Djoker," he wants to be king. Djokovic doesn't care for friends —he just wants to dethrone Nadal on clay, break every standing record and not allow anything or anyone to stop him.
It's true Djokovic wants the crowds to love him, and it's also true that the crowds don't love him as much as they do the other players. But the unfortunate thing, depending on your point of view, is that the longer things remain this way, the more he'll want to be even better. That's the advantage to having a chip on one's shoulder: The drive to prove people wrong always trumps the drive to satisfy them.
The scary part? He also keeps getting better. With weeks and counting as world No. Dave Zarum. Even amongst the greatest tennis players of all time, Novak Djokovic is setting himself apart. King in the North. Ivan Lendl holds the all-time mark with six Canadian Open titles. Djokovic is right at that average. We think of him playing all these long points and grinding.
But again, in the Australian Open , in the nine-plus range, he only won 13 more points than he lost. He was plus 48 in five to eight and he was plus 89 in nought to four. His advantage is much more in the nought to four than it is in the nine plus. He is happy in his life, he knows his body really well, mentally he can also produce and be more relaxed.
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