Novak Djokovic and
Rafael Nadal have played 59 times so far and Djokovic is hoping that number 60 comes at the 2023
Roland Garros.
Djokovic held a press conference in Belgrade yesterday and he was asked about Nadal and what the rivalry means to him. Djokovic proceeded to call Nadal his greatest rival hoping for a rematch at Roland Garros, an event where he jokingly predicted himself to make the final. Speaking to the media, Djokovic said:
"60. match? Roland Garros final! I think he and I would both
agree that it should be there. He is definitely my biggest rival. Not only because of the number of matches, we are generationally close. We grew up through the juniors together, although he started to have excellent professional results much earlier. Federer and he shaped me the most as a player."
He further added:
"While we are active, we do not allow ourselves and have no time to dwell on the magnitude and importance of our rivalry. When we're done, I'd like to talk about it privately. We'll see where the next match is. He's at the top when he's healthy. We boys make sure that the youngsters don't take the slams yet."