Novak Djokovic names Rafael Nadal as his 'biggest opponent' ahead of Roger Federer

Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic has named Spain’s Rafael Nadal as his ‘biggest’ opponent during his career. The 37-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic was part of the original ‘Big Three’, which consisted of the likes of former world number one Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Spain’s Nadal. The three players dominated men’s tennis for a good part of two decades, where each of them won 20 or more Grand Slams.

Djokovic has been recently asked about who his bigger rival between Federer and Nadal was. The Belgrade-born star named the Spaniard as his ‘biggest’ opponent throughout his career. "You probably know the names Federer and Nadal,” he said. “I would say Nadal is the one who probably stands out as my biggest opponent and rival. Yes.".

Nadal has recently retired from professional tennis after taking part in the Davis Cup. The 38-year-old finished his career with 22 Grand Slam titles. Fourteen of those came while playing at the Roland Garros which is why he is known as the ‘King of Clay’. Djokovic and Nadal faced each other 60 times in professional tennis where the Serbian star had a slight edge with 31 wins and 29 defeats.

Their first-ever meeting in professional tennis took place way back in 2006 in the quarterfinal of the French Open, where Nadal came out on top in the contest, and the now 24-time Grand Slam winner was forced to retire. The final result of that match was 6-4, 6-4. Interestingly, their last meeting also took place on the clay court when the two faced off in the second round of the Paris Olympics singles category last year. In that contest, it was Djokovic came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4.