Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal: A statistical comparison
The on-court rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal has often brought the tennis world to its feet. Presently, the duo seems to be enjoying the purple patch. The world number one Djokovic clinched his 17th Grand Slam in 2020 and is now only behind Roger Federer (20) and Nadal (19). In this article, we compare the career stats of Djokovic and Nadal.
World number one Novak Djokovic has won 17 Grand Slam titles, third-most in men's singles history. Across Slams, he has secured a record eight Australian Open titles, five Wimbledon titles, three US Open titles, and one French Open title. After having won the 2016 French Open, he became the eighth player in history to script Career Grand Slam.
Spanish maestro Rafael Nadal is known for his ferocious display on the Clay Court. In a long-standing career, Nadal has won the second most number of Grand Slam titles (19). The Spaniard has 12 French Open titles to his name, having registered a significant record of 12-0 in the tournament finals. Interestingly, he remains the youngest to achieve the Career Grand Slam.
The Spaniard owns 85 ATP titles with Djokovic clinching 79. The two have faced each other 55 times. Notably, Djokovic has a lead of 29-26 in these matches. 15 of them have been played in Grand Slams with Nadal leading 9-6. Overall, Nadal leads in French Open (6-1) and US Open (2-1), while Djokovic has fared better in Australian Open (2-0) and Wimbledon (2-1).
Nadal has claimed victory in 990 career matches so far. He has won 79 matches more than Djokovic, who boasts a record of 911 wins. However, the Serbian has lost less matches (187) as compared to Nadal (200).
Nadal's streak of winning 81 matches on clay court is the longest on a single surface in Open Era (men's singles). His astounding spell commenced in 2005 at the Monte-Carlo Masters and came to an end two years later (2007). Besides, Djokovic scripted a 43-match win streak (across different courts) from the 2010 Davis Cup final to 2011 French Open.
Djokovic has now held the ATP number one rank for a total number of 282 weeks. His streak is the third-highest after Pete Sampras (286) and Roger Federer (310). The 33-year-old has been the top-ranked player for 122 consecutive weeks. Meanwhile, Nadal has a record of staying on top for 56 successive weeks. Overall, he has been the number one player for 209 weeks.
