Ranking the 7 biggest rivals of Rafael Nadal’s career ft. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal’s illustrious career came to an end at the Davis Cup Finals 2024 on November 19. He lost the final match of his career to Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets. While the last season of his career didn’t play out the way he wanted to, that doesn’t take away from his accolades over the years.
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Rafael Nadal’s illustrious career came to an end at the Davis Cup Finals 2024 on November 19. He lost the final match of his career to Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets. While the last season of his career didn’t play out the way he wanted to, that doesn’t take away from his accolades over the years.
Nadal accomplished almost everything that the sport has to offer. He won 22 Major titles, an Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles, won 36 Masters 1000 titles, and set numerous other records.
Doing all of this wasn’t an easy task, and there were plenty of players who stopped him in his tracks time after time. On that note, here’s a look at seven of Nadal’s biggest rivals over the years:
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Rafael Nadal’s illustrious career came to an end at the Davis Cup Finals 2024 on November 19. He lost the final match of his career to Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets. While the last season of his career didn’t play out the way he wanted to, that doesn’t take away from his accolades over the years.
Nadal accomplished almost everything that the sport has to offer. He won 22 Major titles, an Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles, won 36 Masters 1000 titles, and set numerous other records.
Doing all of this wasn’t an easy task, and there were plenty of players who stopped him in his tracks time after time. On that note, here’s a look at seven of Nadal’s biggest rivals over the years:
#7 – Alexander Zverev
Zverev was touted to be a highly rated player since his debut on the pro circuit. When he started playing regularly on the ATP Tour in 2016, he gave a good account of himself right off the bat. He first crossed paths with Nadal at the Indian Wells Masters that year, and even held a match point during their fourth-round contest.
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Rafael Nadal’s illustrious career came to an end at the Davis Cup Finals 2024 on November 19. He lost the final match of his career to Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets. While the last season of his career didn’t play out the way he wanted to, that doesn’t take away from his accolades over the years.
Nadal accomplished almost everything that the sport has to offer. He won 22 Major titles, an Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles, won 36 Masters 1000 titles, and set numerous other records.
Doing all of this wasn’t an easy task, and there were plenty of players who stopped him in his tracks time after time. On that note, here’s a look at seven of Nadal’s biggest rivals over the years:
#7 – Alexander Zverev
Zverev was touted to be a highly rated player since his debut on the pro circuit. When he started playing regularly on the ATP Tour in 2016, he gave a good account of himself right off the bat. He first crossed paths with Nadal at the Indian Wells Masters that year, and even held a match point during their fourth-round contest.
However, Nadal was able to turn things around to down Zverev. The former needed five sets to beat the latter when they faced off at the Australian Open 2017. He won their next three matches to compile a 5-0 record against his younger rival.
With more experience under his belt, Zverev won their next three matches before losing the next two. They wrapped up their rivalry this year with the German handing the 22-time Major champion his first loss in the opening round at Roland Garros, with the final head-to-head being 7-4 in the Spaniard’s favor.
#6 – Dominic Thiem
At one point Thiem was dubbed as Nadal’s successor on clay, given his tendency to push his older rival on the surface. The Austrian was initially on the backfoot in their rivalry, though he established himself as a capable challenger as the years progressed.
Nadal stopped Thiem from winning the French Open twice as he beat him in the 2018 and 2019 finals. The latter did score some memorable wins over the former. He ended the Spaniard’s three-year reign at the Barcelona Open in 2019 with a win in the final.
Thiem also earned a hard-fought five-set win over him en route to the Australian Open final in 2020. Their most recent encounter took place at this year’s Brisbane International, which was won by Nadal, who sealed this match-up with a 10-6 advantage.
#5 – Nikolay Davydenko
Davydenko is one of the few players to have a winning record against Nadal, and leads their head-to-head 6-5. The Russian overcame a 4-2 deficit in this match-up and won four matches on the trot to race ahead. One of those four consecutive wins came in the final of the Shanghai Masters 2009.
Nadal snapped his losing skid with a straight sets win at the Madrid Open 2012, though he never got a chance to even this rivalry after that. Davydenko‘s game had already started to decline when they met in Madrid, and he eventually retired in 2014.
#4 – Juan Martin del Potro
