How Djokovic emerged from the Fedal shadows, dethroned & toppled them in H2H count

AT THE 2005 WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIPS, Rafael Nadal’s uncle and coach (Toni Nadal) was on his way to the men’s locker room, where his nephew was waiting. While passing through the practice courts, a rookie then caught Toni’s eye. After watching some high intensity hitting on Court 18, the senior Nadal told Rafa that we have a problem going ahead and his name is Novak Djokovic.

While the entire tennis fraternity was talking about how Nadal had the potential to dethrone Federer off the top perch, Uncle Toni knew something that probably many did not have a clue about. Looking back, Uncle Toni was spot on in his observation and prediction. 

Today, Djokovic is the undisputed World No.1 and after winning his record-breaking sixth Australian Open yesterday, the Serb is now sitting pretty with 11 Grand Slam titles to his name. Given his incredible run, confidence and fitness, Djokovic looks poised to surpass first, Nadal’s (14) and then Federer’s (17) Slams.

While Djokovic might go on to create history in the future, we are now rewinding back to how he emerged from the shadows of Federer-Nadal to challenging them for bigger titles and eventually toppling them both in the head-to-head count.

Djokovic, who turned Pro in 2003 made his first Grand Slam final at the US Open in 2007, where he lost in straight sets to Federer. However, in the next Major at the Australian Open in 2008, Djokovic stunned Federer in the semis, en route to winning his first Slam in Melbourne. Upon the Serb’s sensational win, his mother Dijana said, “The king is dead, long live the king!”

An in-your-face comment from the Djokovic clan was enough to raise a few eyebrows. A few months later, at the Masters Event in Monte Carlo, Federer’s yell of “keep quiet” at the Djokovic entourage during a game further created more tension and bitterness to their rivalry. Even today, Federer and Djokovic don’t seem to be enjoying each other’s company off the court.

However, after winning his maiden Grand Slam in Melbourne, Djokovic’s struggle with asthma and imbalanced digestive system continued which also forced him to retire from matches with dizziness, gastroenteritis and exhaustion. His frequent withdrawals from high-profile tournaments also irked his peers and many wondered if he would be another One-Slam wonder. 

Fortunately, for Djokovic, his countryman, Dr. Igor Cetojevic, found that Djokovic was sensitive to gluten food and advised him to refrain from pizza, bread, pasta and pancakes, which were high in gluten content. Soon, Dr. Cetojevic had turned Djokovic from a skinny tennis player to a supremely fit athlete. At the fall of 2010, Djokovic single-handedly led his country Serbia to their first Davis Cup win at the end of 2010. A month later, Djokovic continued his inspired play to win his second Aussie Open (once again beat Federer in semis). 

Riding high on confidence, Djokovic then shifted his focus towards his biggest rival Nadal, who he was trailing 7-16 at the beginning of 2011. However, the Serb shocked the world and left Nadal in utter disbelief by winning all their six meetings for the year. Incidentally, all the six encounters were in the finals, (Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid, Wimbledon & US Open). Upon his triumph at SW19, Djokovic also dethroned Nadal from the top of the men’s ranking. 

Meanwhile, Djokovic who trailed Federer 3-7 after their first ten meetings had now started to narrow the gap. At the end of 2011, both men had won 7 matches each, but Federer still maintained the edge over the Belgrade native by 14-10.

In 2012, Djokovic continued his mastery of Nadal after 2012 Australian Open, where he outlasted Nadal in a 5 hour, 53-minute marathon to win his fifth Slam. After this win, Djokovic was known as the “Iron Man”. At that point, Nadal looked shattered and clearly had no answers to Djokovic’s resurgence. Before the 2012 clay season began, Djokovic was two matches away from equaling Nadal in the head-to-head count. 

Nadal did get his revenge after beating Djokovic in three consecutive tournaments on clay but was denied his record-breaking 9th title in Monte Carlo, when the Serb beat him in straight sets to win the coveted title in 2013. Djokovic lost some momentum after losing the 2013 finals of Roland Garros and New York and also trailed Nadal 17-22 in their overall tie. However, Djokovic quickly bounced back and has now beaten Nadal on 9 occasions out of their last ten meetings. Such has been Djokovic’s dominance over Nadal that the Spaniard has found it difficult to win sets, let alone matches. Out of their last 25 sets, the Serb has won 21. Currently, Djokovic leads Nadal 24-23.

Moving on to Federer, from 2012 to the end of 2014, Djokovic clearly had the upper hand over his rival 8-5. Now, the head to head read Djokovic: 17, Federer: 19. (Note: Djokovic got the walkover win after Federer pulled out of 2014 WTF championship match). 

In 2015, Djokovic once again proved his supremacy over Federer by winning 5 out of their 8 matches. After all the hard work, determination and the desire to be the best, Djokovic finally managed to tie the 17 time Major Champion at 22 wins apiece. And after his thumping win against Federer in the semis in Melbourne last week, Djokovic finally got his nose in front 23-22.

Just to throw more light on how Djokovic has dominated Federer since the beginning of 2015, the Serb has won 6 of their 9 meetings and has beaten Federer in the previous 3 Slam finals (Wimbledon 2014, 2015 Wimbledon, US Open). The last time Federer defeated Djokovic in a Slam was at the semis of Wimbledon in 2012. 

Also, it’s not to be forgotten, that in the process of dominating and edging both Federer and Nadal, Djokovic has done a remarkable job of enjoying the game. Despite the hectic schedule and the relentless pressure of hanging to the top spot, Djokovic has been extremely successful in connecting with the young fans of the game. From allowing a boy to serve with his racquet during his intense practice session to chatting with ball-boys during the change of ends, Djokovic has been brilliant. 

Also, Djokovic doesn’t shy away from applauding Federer’s and Nadal’s genius, regardless of the situation of the match. On the other hand, the Spaniard rarely expresses admiration for his opponents, while the Swiss completely refrains from any such gesture. Recently, the World no.1 also said that his rivalry with Federer and Nadal helped him reach the pinnacle of the sport. 

At the moment, Djokovic is at the peak of his prowess with no apparent weakness and unless Federer and Nadal raise their game to a new high, they are likely to come up second best against their nemesis Djokovic in the future. 

Perhaps, Nadal was right in saying the below lines after suffering a humiliating loss to Djokovic in Doha a month ago, 

“The match is easy to analyze. I played against a player who did everything perfectly. I don't know anybody who's ever played tennis like this. Since I know this sport I've never seen somebody playing at this level. So I just congratulate him and that's it.” 

And, if it’s coming from someone of Nadal’s stature, we tennis fans are compelled to believe it. 

Now, there is one major challenge for “the wolf” as Djokovic called himself one before concluding his Australian Open press conference. 

“The wolf needs to eat a lot of different meals to get to Paris.” 

“Paris is a dessert.”