Novak Djokovic claimed that Rafael Nadal was an exception compared to other players of his generation
Novak Djokovic once remarked that Rafael Nadal stood out by maturing at a faster pace than his peers in their generation.
It was the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup (now known as the ATP Finals) in Shanghai, and Djokovic endured a disappointing tournament as he lost all of his matches and was eliminated in the round-robin.
After losing to David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet, the Serb lost his last match of the tournament 6-4, 6-4 to Rafael Nadal.
In his post-match press conference, Djokovic was asked if he felt the Spaniard looked more mature than other players who were around the same age as him. The then-20-year-old responded by saying that Nadal reached a high level of tennis when he was only 16 or 17, and matured much faster than his generation.
“Well, depends, of course. If we are talking about his maturity on the court, he reached the very high level of the tennis already in age of, what, 16, 17. He matured much faster than his generation. You know, he’s exception,” the Serb said.
He also added that Nadal’s exploits at only 21, which included three Grand Slams, was why he deserved to be World No. 2.
“Of course, you don’t see many players lie that reaching second place of the world already at the age of 18, 19. He’s already there for many years. He won three Grand Slams. He played a lot of finals, semifinals, so for sure he deserves to be there,” Djokovic said.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic faced one another 5 times at the ATP Finals
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic faced one another thrice at the ATP Finals, with the latter winning three while the former won the other two.
The round-robin match in 2007 was their very first encounter at the season-ending tournament. They then locked horns at the same stage in 2009 and 2010, with Djokovic winning 7-6(5), 6-3 before Nadal beat him 7-5, 6-2.
The only time the two met in the final of the ATP Finals was in 2013, and the Serb won 6-3, 6-4 to successfully defend his title. Their last meeting in the season-ending tournament was in the 2015 semifinals, and Djokovic triumphed 6-3, 6-3 to reach the final, where he defeated Roger Federer to win the tournament for the fourth successive time.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic haven’t faced one another since their quarterfinal clash at the 2022 French Open, which the Spaniard won 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).
