Rafael Nadal still perfectly remembers his toughest period against Novak Djokovic as the record 14-time French Open champion admits the Serb made him go back to the drawing board in 2011 and think about how to end his dominance in their meetings.
In 2010, Nadal and Djokovic met only twice and the Spaniard won both of those clashes, with the last coming at the 2010 ATP Finals. In the next 14 months, they met seven times and the Spanish player failed to register a single win. All of those seven encounters came in the final stage of a tournament - 2011 Indian Wells, 2011 Madrid, 2011 Rome, 2011 Wimbledon, 2011 US Open, and 2012 Australian Open.
Nadal: I lost too many times to Djokovic in 2011... I had to come back and understand why
One year, I lost too many times with Novak. 2011, I lost the final of Indian Wells, final Miami, final Madrid, final Rome, final Wimbledon, and final US Open. And then the next year, I lost the final of Australia. So it's coming back and understand what's going on, why I am not able to win. Because it's only one against one, makes the things mentally more tough, I think. When you're out there, nobody can save you. It's just you. That's a beautiful thing of our sport too," the Spanish tennis icon said during his conversation with NFL great Tom Brady at the E1 Series in Monte-Carlo Country Club.
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In April 2012, Nadal finally snapped his seven-match losing streak by beating Djokovic 6-3 6-1 in the Monte Carlo Masters final. The Spaniard also triumphed in their 2012 Rome and French Open final meetings.
In the end, Nadal and Djokovic clashed against each other for a total of 60 times and the Serb won their head-to-head with a narrow 31-29 scoreline. In their last encounter at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Serbian tennis giant claimed a 6-1 6-4 win.
