It’s one of the great rivalries in sport and after an astonishing 51 matches, Novak Djokovic leads Rafael Nadal 26-25. Now the pair face off against each other in the semi-final at Wimbledon 2018.
Nadal built up an early lead over Djokovic but as the Serbian climbed to the top of the game he had a long series of wins over the Spaniard between 2015 and 2017. Their last two meetings have both been won by Nadal, but they were on his beloved clay. They have only had two previous meetings at Wimbledon. Nadal won a 2007 semi-final and Djokovic beat him in straight sets in the 2011 final.
Recovering from Injury
Both players have a lot in common as they are not just used to winning title after title but battling career-threatening injuries. Nadal has had plenty of time off the court but the past couple of years have seen him not just return to the game but also to win Grand Slam events and regain his position as world number one, a ranking he holds coming into this match.
Novak Djokovic took the tennis world by storm as he won Grand Slam after Grand Slam, but injuries have hit him hard in the past year. Back fit again he’s steadily making his way back up the rankings but has yet to win a title since his comeback this year. He did show signs that a tournament victory wasn’t too far away as he reached the final of the Queen’s Club tournament last month, losing to Marin Cilic.
Nadal in Form at Wimbledon
Nadal has won three of the last six Grand Slam tournaments and last month saw him again win the French Open. While he is the King of Clay, his form on grass hasn’t been anywhere near so dominant. Yes, he has won the Wimbledon title on two occasions, but not since 2010 and since 2011 the best he’d managed before this year was reaching the fourth round with a few early exits along the way.
His opponent has won this title three times with his last win coming in 2015. Injuries have hit him hard in the past couple of years, but he’s shown signs in this tournament that he’s getting back to his best and that’s not good news for Federer and Nadal who have been dominating the sport in his absence.
Nadal is seeded second for this tournament and the first four rounds weren’t that difficult for him with two of his opponents being qualifiers and he reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set. It got a lot tougher for him in the last eight as he had to come from two sets to one down to beat another player whose career has been ravaged by injuries, Juan Martin del Potro.
Speaking about the upcoming semi-final, Nadal commented “It is always a big challenge to face Novak. He is one of the more complex players that I ever seen in our sport. You know that you can’t win against him if you don’t play very well.”
Djokovic on his way Back
Djokovic has only dropped two sets on his way to the last four. He lost the first set to Kyle Edmund in the third round and another set was lost in his quarter-final with Kei Nishikori. He seems to be getting better as the tournament progresses and a fourth Wimbledon title can’t be ruled out particularly with the winner of this semi-final having to face either Kevin Anderson or John Isner in Sunday’s final.
Friday’s semi-final promises to be a titanic battle between two of the greatest players ever to set foot on a tennis court, don’t miss it.
