“My most important rival,” Novak Djokovic puts the rivalry on backseat as he expresses his wish to play against ‘legend’ Rafael Nadal one more time before retirement

Novak Djokovic hopes to clash against his biggest rival at least one last time before retirement.

The greatest rivalries in any sport, especially tennis, are seldom as close as they are hyped. Pete Sampras dominated Andre Agassi in their head-to-head, as did Serena Williams with Maria Sharapova.

However, the greatest rivalry tennis has ever seen between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic is as close as can be. The two most successful players ever in men’s tennis have played each other a whopping 59 times, with Djokovic leading Nadal by just one, 30-29.

During his speech after the reception of the 2024 Laureus Sportsman of the Year, the Serb said he hoped to play Nadal one last time before the Spaniard hangs up his rackets. Nadal has been hinting at his retirement for the last couple of months, saying 2024 is likely to be his last year on Tour.

In previous interviews and interactions, the two legends of the game have admitted to not being the best of friends. However, each time, they stress that they have immense respect for each other, which was demonstrated yesterday when Djokovic spoke about Nadal in his acceptance speech.

I have a lot of respect for a legend like him, with whom I hope to be able to play at least one more time before he retires. He is a good person and a legend of our sport, he is my most important rival. In Australia, I said I hoped to see him in one or two tournaments and I hope to do that.

Novak Djokovic said via Forbes

Every tennis fan around the world wants nothing more than for the two stalwarts to clash horns again and give it their all on the court one last time, as they have done for the last two decades.

Nadal’s best chance at evening the record against Djokovic

In what may be his last-ever run on his favorite surface, fans hope the King of Clay gets one more opportunity to play Djokovic on red dirt. There are just two more events in which the two titans, Nadal and Djokovic, are both set to compete: the Rome Masters and the French Open.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (via The Guardian)
Nadal has triumphed against Djokovic 29 times in his career, with 20 of those wins coming on clay. Djokovic has once upped Nadal in this tally by defeating the latter on 30 occasions, with just 8 of the wins coming at clay court tournaments.

This year’s clay court season is one of the best chances the Spaniard will get to even out the tally against the Serb, as he has not beaten Djokovic on any other surface in the last 11 years.

With Djokovic saying he wishes to compete with the Spaniard at least one last time, Nadal fans would pray that this meeting takes place within the next two months to have the best shot at winning.