Novak Djokovic once shattered Rafael Nadal’s long standing record after beating him in straight sets at the 2019 Australian Open finals
World No 5 Novak Djokovic once handed a shocking straight sets defeat to World No 2 Rafael Nadal in the finals of the 2019 Australian Open.
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Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - FirstSportz
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have remained arch-rivals in the past two decades. The Spaniard has won 22 Grand Slam singles titles whereas the Serb is just one behind him. They first played against each other in 2009 at the Madrid Open semifinals. Since then, they have faced each other 59 times with Djokovic leading 30-29. Both players are one of the greatest players in the sport.
They both have different playing styles and approaches to the game but the common factor is the passion for the game and a winning attitude. Though Djokovic leads with a 15:13 in finals of all levels, Nadal leads with an 11:7 at the majors. Out of 59 meetings, 27 matches have been played on hard courts with Djokovic leading 20:7. Nadal leads the clay record with a record of 20:8, and the grass court record is equal at 2:2. Moreover, the 35-year-old is the only player to have beaten the 36-year-old in all four majors.
In the past two decades, they have faced twice in the finals of the Australian Open. One was in 2012 and the other in 2019. It was an epic battle in 2012 since the match went on for 5 hours 53 minutes, the longest major final in the Open Era. Both players could not even stand for the trophy presentation since the match left them exhausted.
But in 2019, Djokovic handed Nadal a straight-sets loss in two hours and four minutes. It was their 8th meeting in the Grand Slam finals. With the loss, the Mallorcan’s long-standing record ended as Nadal lost in straight sets for the very first time in a major final. It was Djokovic’s seventh title in Australia and 15th Grand Slam singles title overall.
Nadal’s ranking was No 2 whereas Djokovic’s ranking was No 1 in 2019. The Serb defeated Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the semifinals to advance to the finals for the 7th time in Australia. The Mallorcan defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis to make his 5th appearance in the Australian Open finals. Djokovic made 9 unforced errors while Nadal made 28 unforced errors which made the difference in the end result. Clearly, Djokovic was the better player as he didn’t give a chance to Nadal to take control during the epic finals.
Novak Djokovic’ 2022 season
It had been a tough year for the Serb as he faced something that he hadn’t thought of in his wildest dreams. He was deported on the eve of his match at the 2022 Australian Open. The deportation led to a three-year visa ban and hence, failed to defend his title. It was all due to his unvaccinated status to the Covid-19 vaccine and his firm intention of neither getting it anytime soon.
Owing to the late start, he also failed to defend his title at the French Open, losing to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. He had to skip all the tournaments in the North American swing, especially the US Open. Failing to be consistent on the Tour, it impacted his rankings. But, Novak Djokovic made a strong comeback post the US Open.
He had a perfect end to his 2022 season by winning the ATP Finals title for the sixth time. He equaled the record of Roger Federer. Moreover, he played in four consecutive finals while managing to win thrice. The only loss came at the finals of the Paris Masters where he was denied the chance to defend his title.
After a long battle, he got relief as he has been granted permission to play in Australia in 2023. As he is set to make a comeback after an absence of a year, he is quite excited about it and hopes to receive a grand welcome at Melbourne Park next month.
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)