2014 French Open semifinalist Andrea Petkovic revealed she as soon as spoke with Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni, who confirmed that Novak Djokovic was “the greatest player” his nephew confronted and that was as a result of “no player had the better eyes in tennis” than the present 24-time Grand Slam champion.
For 18 years, the Spaniard and the Serb battled towards one another and created one of many best rivalries – not solely in tennis, however in all of sports activities.
In mid-2009, Nadal opened a routine 14-4 head-to-head towards Djokovic. However then, the present world No. 7 went on to win 27 of their subsequent 42 conferences and end with a constructive 31-29 report towards the newly retired Spaniard.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot
Over the past a number of years, Djokovic declared Nadal his “biggest rival” a few instances. Nevertheless, when requested the identical query throughout his farewell in Malaga, the Spanish tennis icon acknowledged he had essentially the most conferences towards the Serb however that Roger Federer was his largest rival.
Petkovic explains why Djokovic is the best participant that Nadal confronted
“I loved the match-up between Novak and Rafa, because Rafa respected him and knows he is the greatest player he has ever played. It is interesting because I talked to Toni Nadal and he said Novak [is the greatest player Rafa faced] and he said the reason for that is Novak sees the ball like nobody else,” Petkovic said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
“He is the only one who attacked Rafa’s forehand. He gave an example. He said the first few times he tried to take Rafa’s forehand on the rise with his backhand and mistimed it a few times and was late on it. Then in the third match he had perfect timing every time. He said he had the best eyes in tennis.”
After Djokovic received their final official match on the Paris Olympics, he additionally defeated Nadal 6-2 7-6 (5) for third place on the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh.
