{"id":32439,"date":"2025-03-12T03:51:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T03:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32439"},"modified":"2025-03-12T03:51:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T03:51:13","slug":"rafa-nadal-explains-difference-between-roger-federer-novak-djokovic-rivalries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32439","title":{"rendered":"Rafa Nadal explains difference between Roger Federer & Novak Djokovic rivalries"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Laver<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal has explained why his rivalry with Roger Federer was \u2018more attractive\u2019 than his rivalry with Novak Djokovic during the Big Three era.<\/p>\n

The three superstars dominated professional men\u2019s tennis for around two decades, winning a combined total of 66 major singles titles to date.<\/p>\n

Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are all considered to be among the very best players of all time and the trio enjoyed fascinating rivalries with each other.<\/p>\n

Spanish icon Nadal dominated on clay, Federer excelled on grass and hard courts but Djokovic is viewed by most as being the better all-round player.<\/p>\n

Djokovic never seemed to receive the same love and respect as the \u2018Fedal\u2019 duo, though, despite surpassing them for the most Grand Slam titles (24).<\/p>\n

The Serbian, who is the last remaining active player of the three legends, clinched four more major trophies than Federer and two more than Nadal.<\/p>\n

Nadal, who joined Federer in retirement last year, has now opened up about his iconic rivalries with Swiss hero Federer and tennis\u2019 true GOAT Djokovic.<\/p>\n

\u2018With Roger the matches, in my opinion, the reason why the rivalry with Roger was a bit more attractive for the fans than Novak against me\u2026\u2019 Nadal told the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.<\/p>\n

\u2018Even if I played more times with Novak, and we played exactly the same amount of important matches, if not more\u2026 with Roger the strategy was more clear.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was trying to do one thing. He was trying to do the other thing. In some way, I was trying to kill his backhand all the time.<\/p>\n

\u2018Even if I had the chance to play the shot down the line, I was saying to myself, \u2018Okay, when I have to play the shot down the line, it\u2019s only for two reasons\u2019 \u2013 the first reason is because I go for the winner.<\/p>\n

\u2018The other reason is because I need to keep him away from that side to create more space.<\/p>\n

\u2018He was trying to avoid that. He was trying to play more aggressive. Every time he was hitting one forehand, I felt like I was in a step back.<\/p>\n

\u2018His forehand for me is\u2026 yeah, the best that I played against. It\u2019s a little bit more of a chess match. Everybody knows what\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone knows what the strategy is going to be. When he was playing very well, he beat me. When I was playing very well, I beat him.\u2019<\/p>\n

Nadal admits that Djokovic is the best player he\u2019s ever seen in terms of ball control.<\/p>\n

\u2018Against Novak it was a little bit about\u2026 OK, we can have a strategy, but I need to play very well,\u2019 Nadal added. \u2018I need to play very well all the time. We don\u2019t play the same style of course. But it\u2019s not a clear strategy. Against Roger, I will damage him against his backhand. Against Novak, I don\u2019t have that feeling.<\/p>\n

\u2018The feeling is I need to play very well for a long time and know that I have to adjust things. I can\u2019t play too many times against his backhand. Especially high balls because then he takes the ball quicker and puts you in a very difficult position. I started to use the slice more against him.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sometimes it worked for me well. Sometimes against Novak it was good to play to the middle. Don\u2019t give him a lot of angles.<\/p>\n

\u2018With Novak, when you\u2019re able to open him, if you don\u2019t really create a lot of damage, he was able to open you more. In terms of ball control, I think he\u2019s the best I ever played and that I ever saw.\u2019<\/p>\n

MORE: Emma Raducanu learns Indian Wells fate in first event since stalking nightmare<\/span><\/p>\n

MORE: Rafael Nadal handed match-worn World Cup final shirt by 2010s football icon<\/span><\/p>\n

MORE: Novak Djokovic reveals how tennis players really feel about Jannik Sinner ban<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘The rivalry with Roger was a bit more attractive.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[28,17,27,43,22],"class_list":["post-32439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-rafael-nadal","tag-roger-federer","tag-sport","tag-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\nRafa Nadal explains difference between Roger Federer & Novak Djokovic rivalries - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32439\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rafa Nadal explains difference between Roger Federer & Novak Djokovic rivalries - 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