Novak Djokovic – Rafael Nadal: A new page of history

The final match at Roland Garros 2020 will take place to fan expectations as top seed Djokovic and No. 2 seed Nadal meet to compete for the silver trophy.

No matter who wins, they will set new records. Djokovic wins, becoming the first player of the era to win four Grand Slam titles at least twice each. Nadal wins, will have 100 wins at Roland Garros and a new record of 13 championships.

Both players have certain advantages, which makes tonight’s final unpredictable and highly anticipated.

Head-to-head achievements

In 55 previous meetings, Djokovic has 29 wins, while Nadal has 26 wins. This is one of the most indebted parties of the open era. Starting from the first meeting at Roland Garros 2006, the match that Djokovic had to abandon due to a back injury and more recently at ATP 2020, Djokovic won.

This is also the 16th time the two have met in the final, Nadal leads with 9 wins, Djokovic has 6 wins. In the previous 8 Grand Slam finals, the performance was very balanced, each winning 4 matches. Tonight will be the third Roland-Garros final between the two, with Nadal winning both finals beforehand.

Nadal won six of his seven head-to-head matches at Roland Garros. The only time Djokovic beat Nadal on clay was in 2015 when the two met in the quarterfinals.

Considering on clay, in 24 matches, Nadal won 17 matches, Djokovic won 7 matches. However, in the last 18 meetings across all fields since the 2013 ATP Finals, Djokovic won 14 of 18 games, Nadal only won four.

Conditions are different every year

Djokovic and Nadal are the best male tennis players in the world today, they both definitely understand each other’s fighting style. However, in this particular year, a lot can happen to players. Whoever adapts well to the playing conditions, shows a better performance, that person becomes the winner.

As Djokovic said, difficult playing conditions, slippery courts and wind will affect the morale of both players.

“The weather was very different from the conditions we were used to playing in May and June. I think this could be a better opportunity for me, obviously the ball doesn’t bounce over the shoulder as Nadal usually likes.“Says Djokovic.

The weather in Paris is much colder than the summer period, often with rain and wind. Organizers Roland Garros also decided to use a new type of ball despite fierce opposition from Nadal.

Nadal makes no secret of his preference for warmer weather, drier clay courts, a higher bouncing ball, which allows his forehand to increase difficulty and be more effective in driving opponents away. playing position.

Djokovic feels very confident in the new playing conditions, especially implementing what second-round victim Daniel Elahi Galan describes as “having forehand like a rock.” Very few players can continually approach the horizontal edge on clay courts like Djokovic. That could be where he fired Nadal’s shots and set the stage for the final.

Main statistics of Djokovic and Nadal

Djokovic’s semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas lasted almost three hours after the Serb’s inability to exploit his first match point left the match in five sets. While Nadal beat 12th seed Diego Schwartzman in three straight sets, Nadal only played 45 minutes less than Djokovic in the semifinals.

Calculating the total time playing at Roland Garros 2020, Djokovic is playing more than an hour longer than Nadal. Nadal spent 13 hours 13 minutes on the field, while Djokovic spent 14 hours 36 minutes.

The Serbian won 249 winners in six games, including 117 forehand and 70 backhand, while Nadal has 181 winners, his 110 forehand and 26 backhand.

There is good reason for Nadal and Djokovic to be in the final, both of whom are more dominant in serve and break games than all the other players. Djokovic wins 75% of his first serve to Nadal’s 68%. However, Nadal is better at second serve, winning 63%, 10% more than the world No. 1.

They rank first and second in terms of the number of games they have won with the right to serve, Nadal wins 91% (wins 70 of 77 games) and Djokovic is behind with 88% (wins 79 of 90 games).

Djokovic is the best to save break points with 76% (35 of 46), but Nadal is there with 74% (20 of 24). The two remain close to each other in the ability to break the opponent’s game, with Nadal at the top, he has broken 49% of the opponent’s games and Djokovic is just behind with 47%.

The 12-time champion is more efficient with a break point, converting 79% (38 of 48), while Djokovic has more chances to break but only 53% (42 of 79) does well.

What did they say about each other?

Djokovic said he was in awe of Nadal’s ability to dominate at Roland Garros, saying:

“He won this tournament so many times that I don’t think any player has ever won it so many times. He has only lost twice in his entire career in this field”.

“Yes, I mean, look, no matter what the conditions are, he’s still there, he’s Rafa, he’s in the final and we’re playing on clay. The best player of the year when I played with him in the final at Roland Garros, I know that feeling. I lost most of the games we’ve played to him on this pitch, but I also won one in 2015.”.

While Nadal also has great respect for his opponent, arguing that Nole is his toughest opponent, the Spaniard shared:

“All I know is that against Novak, I need to play the best I can. Without playing at his best, the situation is difficult. I know it’s a field I’ve played well on for a long time, so that helps. But at the same time, he has an incredible track record here, reaching the final almost every time. He is one of the toughest opponents possible”.

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