Novak Djokovic has commented on his rivalries with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and spoken candidly about his relationship with his fellow tennis legends.<\/p>\n
The Serbian\u2019s rivalries with Nadal and Federer are the two most prolific matchups in the Open Era of men\u2019s tennis by way of number of matches contested.<\/p>\n
Djokovic<\/a> finished with a 31-29 lead against Nadal from the duo\u2019s 60 record matches between 2006 and 2024, while he compiled a 27-23 record from his 50 meetings with Federer, which were spread between 2006 and 2020.<\/p>\n From Federer<\/a>\u2019s first Grand Slam win at Wimbledon in 2003 to Djokovic\u2019s most recent at the 2023 US Open, the \u2018Big Three\u2019 secured a staggering 66 of the 81 major tournaments held. Djokovic has won a record 24 Grand Slams, while Nadal and Federer retired on 22 on 20 respectively.<\/p>\n Nadal<\/a> called time on his career at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, while Federer partnered Nadal in doubles for his final match at the 2022 Laver Cup. Djokovic, 38, is still competing at the highest level.<\/p>\n Djokovic has explained that his rivalry with Nadal made it impossible for the pair to be friends.<\/p>\n \u201cNadal is only a year older than me, we\u2019re both Geminis,\u201d the 38-year-old was quoted as saying by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first, we even had dinner together twice, but even with him, friendship is impossible.<\/p>\n Novak Djokovic is a \u2018unicorn\u2019 \u2013 but is his schedule contributing to his injuries? Leading expert reveals<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Novak Djokovic has a point,\u2019 says ATP rival over scheduling debate<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always respected and admired him greatly. Thanks to him and to Federer, I grew and became who I am. This will unite us forever, and for that I\u2019m very grateful.<\/p>\n \u201cNadal is part of my life; in the last 15 years, I\u2019ve seen him more than my mother. We\u2019ve never been friends. Between rivals, it\u2019s impossible, but we\u2019ve never been enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n On Federer, Djokovic added:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve always respected Federer; he was one of the greatest of all time.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had an extraordinary impact, but I\u2019ve never been close to him.\u201d<\/p>\n During the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, Djokovic expressed his wish to spend time with Federer and Nadal to reflect on everything they experienced together once he retires.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t pause to reflect,\u201d the former world No 1 admitted.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have time. Being on the highest level on professional tennis requires a lot of dedication.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t play as much as I did before, but the weeks I don\u2019t play, I play at home with my kids. I don\u2019t reflect fully on everything I have been through.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to but I think that will come when I set the racquet aside and then sip Margaritas on the beach with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and just reflect on our rivalry and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Paris Masters chief addresses if Alcaraz, Sinner & Djokovic will play the event amid doubts<\/a> The post What Novak Djokovic said about how \u2018close\u2019 he is to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Novak Djokovic has commented on his rivalries with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and spoken candidly about his relationship with his fellow tennis legends. The Serbian\u2019s rivalries with Nadal and Federer are the two most prolific matchups in the Open Era of men\u2019s tennis by way of number of matches contested. Djokovic finished with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Novak Djokovic News<\/h2>\n
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