Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic: A Statistical Comparison

(This article was written on the 28th July 2014. All statistics are as of this time.)

Both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are hugely successful stars of the ATP tour. Both have achieved incredible feats during their career and I hope, will continue to do so. Djokovic is current number 1 (July'14) but that top spot has been flicking between the two players since 2010. I find their rivalry fascinating as they're both the two top players at the moment, but if you dig a little deeper you'll see there are a lot of major differences in their achievements. Luckily you don't have to do the rifling through record books and ranking histories, because I've done it for you! Enjoy!

Let's start where it all began. Rafa turned pro in 2001, Djokovic in 2003. The players are exactly 10 months and 12 days apart, but even if they were the same age, Rafa would still have turned pro at least 1 year earlier.

First ATP title.

Rafa: Orange Prokom Open, August, 2004
Novak: Dutch Open, after Wimbledon in 2006.

First Slam

Rafa: Roland Garros 2005
Novak: Australian Open 2008

Rafa has won 14 slams to date, including 9 French Open titles. Rafa Nadal is the only player in history to win at least one grand slam title every year for 10 years.

Novak has won 7 slams to date. He is the only Serbian player to win a Grand Slam title.

The Rankings

Rafa first turned number 1 in 2008, beating Roger Federer in the Wimbledon Final before a Rogers Cup Title. He was only 21 years old.

Novak first turned number 1 in 2011, at Wimbledon (which he later won). 2011 was Novak's dream season, 3 grand slam titles, 5 masters and his first claim of number 1.

Rafa: 142 weeks at no.1  (so far)
Novak: 102 weeks at no.1  (so far)

Masters 1000

One of the most important tournaments of the year are the Masters 1000. There are 9 masters per year (2014).

Rafa has won 27 masters, runner up to 13 of them.
Novak has won 19 masters, runner up to 10.

When both Rafa and Novak participate in Masters events, either one of them had won every tournament during 2012, 2013 and most of 2014. Exception- Wawrinka Monte Carlo 2014.
This shows just how dominant the two players are.

Olympics

2008 Beijing Olympics
Rafa- Gold
Novak- Bronze

Davis Cup

Rafa: Win (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011)
Novak: Win (2010)

World Tour Finals

Rafa: Final (2010, 2013)
Novak: Win (2008, 2012, 2013)

Win/Loss Career Record

Rafa: 702-137
Novak- 580-136

ATP Titles

Rafa: 64
Novak- 45

Winning Streak

Rafa: 81 on clay. From April 2005 to May 2007. Ended by Roger Federer.
Novak: 43. December 2010 to May 2011.

Winning Percentage

Rafa has a winning percentage against every active player in the top 30.

Rafa leads Novak 23-19
Rafa has a winning percentage over Novak- 54.76%


What I find fascinating about these facts, is that Nadal achieved so much at a young age. In 2006 Novak won his first ATP title, Rafa won his second slam title. In the overall question of 'greatest of all time', you can see that Rafa is safely ahead of Novak in that debate in terms of statistics.

I've really enjoyed researching these statistics, and I hope you've found this post interesting. It's great to dig a little deeper, and explore the depths of ATP tennis. If you have any requests of who you would like me to compare, let me know!


@rafanadaladdict


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