Novak Djokovic's Dominance over Rafael Nadal: A Look at Their Rivalry and Impersonations

After winning the US Open 2023, the Serbian played the Davis Cup this week

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Novak Djokovic y Rafael Nadal They have met on 59 occasions, being the duel that has been repeated the most times in the history of tennis. The record favors the Serbian, who has won on 30 occasions; However, at the beginning of this rivalry it was the Iberian who dominated, until 2010, the king of clay was up 16-7.

Just at that time, it was common to see imitations of Djokovic towards Nadal, but from one moment to the next these disappeared. In an interview with ESPN, ‘Nole’ revealed that he passed and why he didn’t do it again: “At the beginning of my career, when he kicked my butt on the court, he agreed with my imitations; however, When I started winning some games everything changed and I felt like there wasn’t the same energy anymore.”, he expressed.

Novak beat Nadal in seven consecutive finals, beating him at the Masters 1000 Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome; in addition to Wimbledon and the US Open in 2011… the streak stretched at the Australian Open in 2012. And, in the beginning, it was common to see the Serbian and the Spaniard sharing, but from one moment to the next everything changed, very different from what happens with Nadal himself and the Swiss Roger Federer.

After playing the group stage of the Davis Cup, ‘Nole’ will have a break of more than a month, as he will return to competition at the ATP Masters 1000 Paris, then he will play the Masters Cup and his competitive year will end with the final of the Davis Cup World Group.

Novak Djokovic says Rafa Nadal stopped liking his impersonations when he started winning against him:

“Early on in my career, when he was kicking my a** on court, he was ok with that. But when I started winning a few matches I felt like the energy shifted a bit.”

(via ESPN) pic.twitter.com/hvKcOhQolt

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 16, 2023