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Serb Novak Djokovic and Spaniard Rafael Nadal are tennis players that are entrenched and engaged in a modern-day tennis rivalry. They have played each other 29-times with the Spaniard having the advantage 16 to 13 in match wins. The first ever meeting occured between the two at the 2006 French Open in the Quarterfinals, where Nadal prevailed. The first final appearance between the two came at the 2007 Indian Wells Masters tournament, where Nadal won the event, which this was just the second-time they ever met on the ATP Tour. The first win the Serb ever had in this rivaly was at the Quarterfinals of the 2007 Miami Masters on their third occasion playing each other.

2006
The first meeting between the two, which as the only one for this year was at the French Open (Roland Garros) in the Quarterfinals, and the victory went to Nadal in this match via a retirement from Djokovic after Nadal took the first two sets in fours in a matter of 114 minutes.

2007
They met seven times and Nadal won five of those this year.

The first encounter happened at the outdoor hard courts of the Indian Wells Masters in the final, where Nadal prevailed in a matter of 94 minutes.

The second meeting took place at the outdoor hard courts of the Miami Masters in the Quarterfinals that was won by Djokivic in just 97 minutes.

The third match came at the outdoor clay courts of the Rome Masters in the Quarterfinals that was won by Nadal in 101 minutes.

The first ever grand slam tournament battle between the two came on clay at French Open in the Semi-finals that saw Nadal defeat Djokovic in 148 minutes. This was the fourth match the two played and the fifth overall for their careers.

The fifth battle of the year was at another grand slam tournament on the grass courts of the Wimbledon Championships in the Semi-finals, which say Nadal beat Djokovic in a retirement, and the match took 101 minutes to get to that result.

The sixth bout of the year came at the Canada Masters, which was in the semi-final that Djokovic won in a time of 111 minutes.

The seventh and final encounter between the two during the year was at the Masters Cup (Tour Finals) in Shanghai during the Round Robin phase. This was won by Nadal in a meeting that lasted 104 minutes.

2008
They met six times this year and Nadal won four of those encounters.

The first meeting of the year came at the Semi-finals Indian Wells Masters, and Djokovic won the match in 88 minutes.

The second encounter took place at the outdoor clay courts of the Hamburg Masters, and Nadal won in two-out-of-three-sets that took 183 minutes to complete in the Semi-finals.

The third tussle was at the French Open Semi-finals, that Nadal won in 169 minutes.

The fourth match was at the grass courts of the Queen's Club in London, and Nadal took the title from Djokovic in the final match, which took 136 minutes to complete.

The fifth bout came at the outdoor hardcourts of the Cincinnati Masters in the Semi-finals that was won by Djokovic in 86 minutes.

The sixth wrangle came at the outdoor hard courts of the Beijing Olympics in the Semi-finals, and that match was won by Nadal.

2009
They met seven times and Nadal won four of those matches.

The first and only meeting to date in the Davis Cup happened in the first round of the World Group in the fourth rubber, which Nadal won to clinch the tie for Spain.

The second encounter they had was at the outdoor clay courts of the Monte Carlo Masters in the final, where Nadal won the third set in 163 minutes.

The third meeting took place at the the outdoor clay courts of the Rome Masters in the final, where Nadal won in straights in 123 minutes.

The fourth battle took place in the semi-finals of the outdoor clay court tournament Madrid Masters, and was a hard faught battle in three tough sets the victory went to Nadal in 243 minutes.

The fifth match would have a far different result on the outdoor hardcourts of the Cincinnati Masters in a mere 92 minutes Djokovic won in the Semi-finals.

The sixth bout took place at the indoor hardcourts of the Paris Masters, and Djokovic won the bout in a matter of 77 minutes.

The seventh tussle took place at the Round Robin phase of the indoor hardcourt tournament Tour Finals, Djokovic won the final tussle of the year with Nadal in 118 minutes.

2010
They met only twice in 2010, which Nadal won both matches.

The first was at the US Open and this match was played over two days because of a rain delay and finished on Monday afternoon. Nadal took the first set yet then Djokovic came back to level the match at one set all, but then Nadal took the next two subsequent sets for the victory. This match took 223 minutes to get finished.

The second encounter came during the Round Robin stage of the ATP World Tour finals, where Nadal dispatched Djokovic in two sets. The encounter took 112 minutes to come to a close.

2011
They have met six times, which all just happened to be in finals, and Djokovic has won all of those to date.

The first such encounter of the season took place at the outdoor hardcourts of the Indian Wells Masters, where Nadal took the first set only to lose the next subsequent two to Djokovic. This encounter took 146 minutes to play.

Onto the second match played between the two came at the outdoor hardcourts of the Miami Masters, yet again Nadal took the first set, only to lose the next two straight sets to Djokovic. This match took 202 minutes unitl completion.

The third meeting took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Madrid Masters, which unlike the two previous meetings Djokovic took both sets off of Nadal. This meeting took 138 minutes to determine a victor.

The fourth final contest took place on the outdoor clay courts of the Rome Masters, where Djokovic took both sets off of Nadal. This contest took 133 minutes to come to a conclusion.

The biggest bout being the two came at Wimbledon, where Djokovic won the first two sets, but then could not manage to win the third. Yet, he came back to win the fourth set to take the victory over Nadal. This bout took 148 minutes to determine the champion.

The second biggest contest came at the US Open, where Djokovic lost to Nadal in the final the previous year, and a loss Djokovic credited for fostering the new attidude that he took into 2011. At the US Open, Djokovic continued the same pattern of taking the first two sets off of Nadal, and like Wimbledon could not manage to capture the third set to clinch a straight sets victory, which Djokovic would come back and win the fourth set for the title. This contest was determined in 250 minutes.

Significant aspects
They have played in three Grand Slam finals, which two were claimed by Djokovic and one by Nadal.

Clay
Nadal: 9–2

Hard
Djokovic: 10–5


 * One of the biggest meetings occured at the 2010 US Open, that was won by Nadal in the final.
 * Another of the biggest meeting occured at the 2011 US Open, that was won by Djokovic in the final.

Grass
Nadal: 2–1


 * The biggest meeting came at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles in the final and Djokovic won.

Skill Comparisons
Djokovic hits a flatter ball than Nadal who plays with much more spin. Nadal has a better forehand in the matchup. Djokovic has the better backhand in the matchup. The serves are basically equal.

List of all matches
ATP, Davis Cup, and Grand Slam main draw results included.