Bonus Feature 2: Top 10 Djokovic-Nadal Matches
The Correct, Definitive, Perfect ranking of the best matches between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal that totally won't change instantly when someone says my order is wrong.
Ranking tennis matches is a more subjective measure than you’d think. Ask someone about the popular pick for the best contest ever—the 2008 Wimbledon men’s singles final—and they’ll mention storylines and drama alongside the actual quality of the tennis. As someone who takes the word “best” at face value and not to mean “longest” or “most dramatic,” my picks for the best tennis matches tend to differ from others’. I’ve long been a flag-flyer for the 2009 Australian Open semifinal between Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, which, though it couldn’t boast the contrasts or cinematic nature of the 2008 Wimbledon final, was a better match, point-for-point. So while I won’t totally ignore the weight of an occasion or the length of a match—a good five-setter ranks higher than a good three-setter because of the extra two good sets, for example—this list is primarily based on tennis quality, with a couple other supplemental criteria.
Another important note: highlight packages are like movie trailers. They’re designed to feature the high points of a match and not to feature the low points. A highlight video of the Djokovic-Wawrinka semifinal at the 2015 Australian Open looks pretty good, while people who watched the entire match live will tell you that it was atrocious. So while I’ve linked to several highlight videos throughout this list and a match’s high points are a relevant part of how good they are, just as relevant is what happens between the points featured in condensed videos.
Given that preferences among readers likely vary wildly and choosing 10 matches out of a superb pool of 59, I’m including both the case for my top 10 to be as high as they are on my list and the case against. Regardless: come at me with your disagreements or rants in the comments.
Honorable mentions: Oh boy, are there a lot of these. I don’t even know where to start. There were three excellent Roland-Garros matches—2012 final, 2014 final, 2022 quarterfinal—that don’t make the list because the 2013 and 2021 semifinals at the same tournament were better. The 2008 Queens final was an absurdly high-quality straight-setter, but barely loses out to the 2016 Rome quarterfinal. The 2013 U.S. Open final, a fantastic four-set match that included a 54-shot rally, misses the list because the 2011 U.S. Open final was slightly better. (That said, when I ask myself what I would say to a Nadal fan who thinks the 2013 final was better, I’d probably stammer and say the 2011 final was more epic, which is a horribly nebulous argument. The margins here are extremely small.) The 2014 and 2021 Rome finals were great three-set battles. The 2007 Masters Cup match, like the 2008 Queens final, looked like a video game at times. I could go on, but let’s get into the list before my brain fluid boils over from all the near-misses.
10. 2016 Rome quarterfinal: Djokovic d. Nadal 7-5, 7-6 (4)
The case for: This match making the list might surprise some people. But don’t let the straight-set scoreline fool you: this was a thriller. Its quality was unrelenting from the start—I think it’s better than the three and four-set honorable mentions, all of which had more gaps in the action than this gem. Though Djokovic was at the peak of his powers and Nadal was making his way back after a terrible 2015, Rafa took it to Novak in this match, going up a break in both sets. He was frequently the aggressor, and when Djokovic drop-shotted him, Nadal would counter with dropper winners of his own. Alas for Nadal, when it counted most, Djokovic raised his game, most notably saving a handful of set points when his rival served for the second set.
Multiple points in this match stand out—the set point in the first set remains iconic to this day, which featured Rafa blasting his entire arsenal at Djokovic only for Novak to retrieve everything, including a smash, then outduel Nadal at net. At 5-all, 30-all in the second set, Djokovic concluded a long rally by taking a deep Nadal forehand right after the bounce to blast a backhand winner crosscourt. The highlights are exhilarating, but this isn’t a match whose best moments make it seem better than it was—the whole event was a treat.
The case against: There’s little to nitpick from a quality standpoint. It did lack a little in the “epic” department—the match was less high-profile than all the others on this list, it ended in straight sets, and while Nadal gave a hell of a fight, the result seemed a foregone conclusion at the outset since Djokovic hadn’t lost a set to the Spaniard in nearly two years. So while the match was brilliant, it’s not necessarily one I would mention immediately when telling the story of the rivalry. (That said, it probably had an impact on Nadal’s confidence, since he would break his losing streak to Djokovic the next time they played and wouldn’t lose to him again on clay until 2021.)
9. 2008 Olympic semifinal: Nadal d. Djokovic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
The case for: Whatever larger-scale drama the 2016 Rome quarterfinal lacked, this one certainly had—it may be the highest-stakes match between Djokovic and Nadal outside the majors. This duel for a guaranteed medal went down to the wire in the third set, Djokovic trying to stay the aggressor and Nadal firing back with passing shots and forehands when he got the opportunity, until…the Djokosmash was born. On match point. When Djokovic was right on top of the net and Nadal was miles behind the baseline. Ending aside, though, this is a great watch. Nadal excels in the first set, Djokovic dominates the second, and they go toe-to-toe in the third, so you get a little bit of everything. The third set in particular was played at an extremely high standard and was dead-even until Nadal broke Djokovic at the very end to advance to the gold medal match.
The case against: This match lost out by being best-of-three—the second set was lopsided and the drama in the decider, though thrilling, didn’t get much of a chance to build before the match was over.
8. 2011 U.S. Open final: Djokovic d. Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1
The case for: This match, despite a lopsided scoreline in three of four sets and the outcome never being in doubt, was a spectacle. It was like a king had ordered the two best athletes from his empire to display their skills for the entertainment of the people. The rallies were of the ilk that has rarely if ever been equaled since and remain prominent in great point compilations on YouTube. Even during the phase of the match in which Djokovic was rolling over Nadal, there were moments—most notably a 20-minute game early in the second set. And the third set, until Djokovic and Nadal clashed at Roland-Garros almost a decade later in 2021, might have been the popular vote for the best set of tennis ever.
The case against: The match didn’t have a ton of suspense. After maybe the fifth game, you knew who would win. Most of the epic factor came from sheer awe at the physical feats—fully deserved—but the drama to match wasn’t there. Plus, even though every set had incredible rallies, only the third lives on. Outside that and the 20-minute game in the second set, there’s not much to talk about with this match. The peaks were stunningly high enough to get it into the top 10, but its flaws keep it well outside the top 5.
7. 2021 Roland-Garros semifinal: Djokovic d. Nadal 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2
The case for: What is it with Djokovic and Nadal playing extraordinary matches with benign scorelines? It’s no 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7, it’s no 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, and it’s not even 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7, 12-10. (Kudos if you know which matches those scorelines are referring to.) But that third set, the 90+ minute war that Djokovic finally won in a tiebreak, is as good as any of the sets in those aforementioned matches, better though they were overall. I vividly remember the exact moment the match caught fire: serving at 3-2, 30-40 in that vital third set, Djokovic defended a vicious forehand down the line from Nadal with a deep forehand block, then immediately attacked with a combination of angled crosscourt groundstrokes that set up an inside-out forehand winner.
The volume of incredible points and momentum swings in that third set beggars belief. The set was so good that it instantly launched a torrent of hyperbolic takes—this was the best match ever, or one of them. It wasn’t, but much of what makes a match great is how it causes the viewers to feel, and this match had its viewers in a vise grip. Diego Schwartzman, who had taken a set off Nadal two rounds earlier, wondered on Twitter if Djokovic and Nadal were playing a different sport than anyone else. Andy Murray tweeted that the clay-court tennis was perfect. Cher tweeted about the match. It’s the closest thing to a cultural moment that I can think of that the quality of a tennis match—not those involved or the stakes of the match—caused in the past 10 years. For the wonderful tennis which caused that, this match gets the 7th spot on my list.
The case against: Similar to the 2011 U.S. Open final, this match had one set so good that it obliterated all reasonable thought and three sets that were fairly ordinary by Djokovic-Nadal standards (though extraordinary for nearly anyone else). The match also has a faint shadow surrounding the fourth set since Nadal really started struggling physically in the final six games, and the fact that he barely played for the rest of 2021 suggests he was significantly compromised towards the end. (Plus, Djokovic lost five straight games to open the match.) Had Nadal been fully fit, it’s easy to imagine that this match could have been one of the very best ever played. As it was, the battle was more than great enough for a spot on this list, but there are enough bad parts to credibly replace it for something else if you’re intent on doing so.
6. 2008 Hamburg semifinal: Nadal d. Djokovic 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
The case for: This match had an energy not a lot of contests do. Nadal was at the peak of his defense, Djokovic was selling out on forehands, and the product was a bundle of manic points. When they play against each other, Djokovic and Nadal’s best attributes have to be at their sharpest. In this match, Nadal’s defense and some of Djokovic’s forehands felt particularly special. The match was streaky and two of the sets were lopsided, but that was because one player or the other was always at the top of their games, not because either of them ever went missing. When a player went on a run, it felt more due to the incredible vigor with which they were playing than any kind of tactical domination.
The case against: It lacked a close deciding set. The last game is one of the best Djokovic and Nadal have played, Djokovic’s drop shots against Nadal’s speed, and ended with Rafa saving four break points to close out the match. The only problem was that Nadal was up two breaks at the time and the suspense had leeched away to the point that the result was clear even if Djokovic had gone on to break. If the two had gone toe-to-toe to the end without the eventual victor being evident, this match could have risen as high as #2 for its insane quality. In a drama vacuum, it’s better than the 2009 Madrid semifinal.
5. 2011 Miami final: Djokovic d. Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
The case for: Besides the 2009 Madrid semi, at the time, this was the best match Djokovic and Nadal had played yet. With Djokovic entering his peak years and Nadal yet to lose confidence in the matchup, this was a true toe-to-toe battle that lasted until Nadal wilted physically just a few points before the finish line. This match took a little while to heat up (though not nearly as long as the 2013 Montreal semifinal, which is why that one doesn’t even make the top 10), but once it did, it was thrilling. Djokovic and Nadal tried to blast through each other repeatedly while repelling their opponent’s fusillades with their incredible defense, sparing no thought for the brutally attritional nature of the rallies.
The case against: I can’t really criticize this match at all—it had everything. It just peaked at a 9.5 rather than a 10; if you watch from start to finish, you’ll shake your head in awe but probably never gasp.
4. 2013 Roland-Garros semifinal: Nadal d. Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7
The case for: Surely the pair’s closest match at Roland-Garros, and probably the best. The fifth set was utterly thrilling, maybe Nadal’s finest hour under pressure against Djokovic: from 2-4 down, he hit his way to the finish with pure aggression, firing forehands down the line time and again. At 1-3, Nadal was in danger of getting broken again and his backhand came to the rescue, blasting three winners at 30-all, deuce, and ad-in. He pressed to his limit in exactly the way fans want their favorite players to. A forehand down the line at 4-3 in the fifth caught the very outside of the sideline. Djokovic made a costly error by tumbling into the net after a smash just a couple points later, but outside of that one mistake, the comeback was all Nadal. Over the course of the four hours and 37 minutes, each player forced the other to their heels at times, forcing them to adjust or collapse. Finally, Djokovic hit a gear he couldn’t sustain and Nadal could and lost his serve at love to seal a famous Rafa win.
The case against: You wouldn’t know it without watching the match from first point to last, but Djokovic’s level fluctuated wildly in this one, resulting in relatively few patches of simultaneously superb play. His backhand down the line, a crucial weapon, was virtually nonexistent. It took Djokovic a set and a half just to produce a break point…then he reeled off four straight games to win the second set. Djokovic looked utterly listless in the third (won 12 points to Nadal’s 28)…then twice rebounded from a break down to steal the fourth. Nadal had every chance to win the match in four sets, and had he been sharper in the middle of the second, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could have done it in straights. Writers liveblogging the match commented on its quality but also its strangeness. Even though Nadal didn’t close the door early and the match ended up being wonderfully contested, neither player had a particularly consistent performance and their spellbinding mid-match peaks largely occurred at different times. The match didn’t catch fire and stay alight until late in the fourth, by which time it had already spent its majority as inferior to others on this list.
3. 2009 Madrid semifinal: Nadal d. Djokovic 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9)
The case for: Not since the Cincinnati final between Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz this year had a three-set men’s match captured the magic of the 2009 Madrid semifinal. In the final few points, Djokovic and Nadal emptied the very bottom of their wells of magical hot shots. Nadal saved two match points with winners (and one with an unreturned serve), Djokovic saved one with a winner himself. The match built to a perfect climax, the atmosphere was incredible, and the margins were as close as they can possibly get. It was also a new frontier of physical exertion in a best-of-three match—Steve Tignor’s headline on his Concrete Elbow blog was “Death in the Afternoon.”
Side note—this observation by Steve, made in early 2010, was prophetic on a few levels:
“How many times has Djokovic started out on fire against Nadal only to find that he can’t quite maintain that level long enough? He goes up 3-0 here, and seems to be making especially good use of his wide serve in the deuce court. His ability to take a Nadal forehand and send it down the line with his backhand will always make him a tough match-up for Rafa, no matter what the surface.”
And Steve’s sign-off: “Nadal-Djokovic was a celebration of everything we call competition.” Not sure I can add much to that.
The case against: Nadal was flat for the first hour, so much so that many have speculated that he easily could have retired early in the second set. The second set was better than the first, but you could probably watch the third set in isolation and still get 99% of what made the match magical.
2. 2012 Australian Open final: Djokovic d. Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5
The case for: Damn, this match was something. Put the two best defenders in men’s tennis history on a slow hard court and this is what you get: a near six-hour slugfest that has both players leaning on the net for support during the trophy ceremony because their legs can’t hold them up anymore. Some of the rallies and gets are simply mindblowing, and I can’t really make sense of the fact that the match got better in the fifth set as Djokovic and Nadal started running on empty. This match is my go-to for showing why Nadal is such a great fighter, and he didn’t even win in the end. There’s so much to talk about with this match that I had to be uncomfortably selective in how much I wrote about it in Chapter 9—which still ended up being one of the longest pieces yet.
For example, I didn’t talk about the last game of the match. Djokovic went up 30-love and the final looked over. Then Nadal forced an error for 30-15. Then Nadal defended like a madman to throw up a decent lob and Djokovic produced the Djokosmashiest Djokosmash of all the Djokosmashes for 30-all—the ball hit the bottom of the net. Then Nadal defended like a madman once again, doing three corner-to-corner sprints, until he got the chance to rattle a backhand down the line for 30-40. This match felt destined to have a dramatic last game, and I think destiny is bullshit. But at times it really was like the final was being governed by forces beyond the earthly familiar.
This is what an Australian commentator said when Djokovic put away the last forehand and collapsed on his back: “When they write the story of the great tennis matches ever played, this one has got to be right up the front of the book.” Enough said.
The case against: The fourth and fifth sets of this match had an enormous sway on the perception of its quality. Through the third set, if anything, this final was underwhelming—Djokovic took a while to get going, and once he did, Nadal seemed not to have any answers. The first set had a combined 36 unforced errors. I can pick out memorable moments from the first three sets (having watched the match multiple times as the sicko I am) but if you poll tennis fans on bits of the match that stick with them, I’d bet that nine out of every ten are coming from sets four and five. Deservedly, don’t get me wrong—Nadal made his remarkable push in the fourth, making for a thoroughly compelling firefight, and the fifth set will live forever. But by the end, some were proclaiming this one of the greatest matches of all time, and still do today. If every set had looked like the last two? Absolutely. As it was? Nope.
This match is unrivaled for the literally epic physical achievements from both players. The drama was fantastic. The exhausting nature of the match, the storyline of Nadal trying to break out of his rut against Djokovic, and the desperate closeness made this clash so momentous that it almost feels like a heavy object you can hold in your hands. It’s a rare instance of when I’m willing to rank something higher based on criteria besides tennis quality. Those criteria get this match to #2 on this list above some other matches that were better quality on average. They don’t get it to #1, though.
1. 2018 Wimbledon semifinal: Djokovic d. Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 3-6, 10-8
The case for #1: It has to be. Point-for-point, Djokovic and Nadal have never played better against each other at the same time. After 51 matches of their best tennis against each other largely being concentrated in individual sets, they finally managed to spread their greatness across an entire match. This one had it all—momentum swings (Djokovic looked like he might win in straight sets after playing perfectly for the first hour before Nadal made a savage surge early in set two), insane quality (both players hit 73 winners and 42 unforced errors, an incredible ratio), peaks (that third set tiebreak and the entire fifth set), and a dead-even struggle (Djokovic said afterwards he didn’t know who would win until the last point).
Played over two days due to John Isner and Kevin Anderson ascending to new levels of tennis boredom by playing a 26-24 fifth set in the first semifinal, Djokovic-Nadal began with a Novak masterclass. Nadal played a perfectly solid first set and lost it 6-4, never having a break point. At the beginning of the second, Djokovic poured on even more pressure, and Nadal made his patented adjustment, blasting forehands down the line repeatedly to win a second set whose 6-3 scoreline expertly conceals what kind of battle it was.
Unlike virtually every other match on this list (and virtually every match in general, really), I can’t point to a set that was dull or average quality or markedly worse than the others. The fourth set comes closest—it tailed off a bit towards the end—and it started with the best game of the entire match, a 16-minute war in which both players hit enough winners to make up a complete highlight reel. I think this is probably the best Nadal has ever played in a loss—he was more complete than he had been for the years of his career in which he was chasing Federer, he did not dip, and he was competing with the man now confirmed as the greatest of all time, who has tended to have Nadal’s number on faster surfaces. And not only is this the best Djokovic-Nadal match, it ranks second on my all-time ATP list, behind only the unshakeable Nadal-Verdasco 2009 Australian Open semifinal.
The case against: To my dismay, this match never really resonated with the mainstream, at least not on the level that the 2008 Wimbledon final or even the 2012 Australian Open final did. Maybe that was because it was a semifinal (though the 2009 Madrid match, also a semi, might even be more heralded than this one among casual fans). Maybe it was because every non-hardcore tennis fan temporarily swore off the sport after Anderson and Isner served each other into oblivion for six hours and they missed the all-time-great match that came after it. Maybe it was because the match was played over two days because of Wimbledon’s curfew rule. In any event, people don’t talk about this match too much—the nerds do, and those who watched it all the way through tend to as well, but those parties just aren’t that large.
Still, the match’s place on my list is rock-solid. It’s perhaps the best individual sample of pure skill in the modern era of men’s tennis you can find—Djokovic and Nadal forced each other to hit every single shot in the book, then proceeded to do exactly that over five hours and 15 minutes. There were enough winners that the Wimbledon YouTube channel missed at least two of them in their “All the Winners” video from the match. (Nadal hits a forehand drop shot winner at 3-5 down in the third set tiebreak and a forehand winner down the line at 30-all in the first game of the fourth, neither of which are in the video.)
I’ll sign off with the aforementioned highlights (33 minutes!). Hard to spend a better half hour doing anything else.
Thanks so much for reading The Golden Rivalry. I hope you enjoyed this break in the routine—I’ll be back on Sunday with the next chapter. Please hit me with your pitches for matches that didn’t make the list or different arrangements for the list. I’ll be glad to discuss and debate! See you in a few. -Owen