By Chris Oddo | Friday, October 10, 2014
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will meet for the 36th time in the Shanghai semifinals on Saturday. Join us for a peek inside the numbers.
Photo Source: ABC Australia
Though it has been overshadowed historically by Federer-Nadal, and of late by Nadal-Djokovic, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have had no shortage of classic moments during their storied rivalry. In honor of their 36th meeting in the Shanghai Rolex Masters semifinals on Saturday, we'll add up some of the numbers that have made this rivalry special.
36
Number of times Djokovic and Federer have locked horns, which moves them past past Federer and Nadal (33), Connors and McEnroe (34), Connors-Lendl / Becker-Edberg (35) and into a tie for second all-time with Lendl-McEnroe for most head-to-head meetings by two players.
Here are the top seven:
1. Djokovic-Nadal, 42
2. Lendl-McEnroe, 36
2. Federer-Djokovic, 36
3. Connors-Lendl, 35
3. Becker-Edberg, 35
4. Connors-McEnroe, 34
4. Agassi-Sampras, 34
5. Federer-Nadal, 33
18-17
Federer owns the edge in the head-to-head by one match. The pair have split four matches this year, with Djokovic winning the memorable Wimbledon final in five sets in early July. The Swiss won for the first time when dropping the first set against Djokovic in Dubai this winter, and after dropping the Indian Wells final in a third-set tiebreaker, he defeated Djokovic in the Monte-Carlo semis while the Serb was struggling with his right wrist.
24
Grand Slam titles between the two. Federer comes in with a pretty hefty edge of 17-7. Go ahead and relive some of the glory of their Wimbledon final, you know you want to:
6-4
Djokovic owns the slight edge in career finals against the Swiss maestro, due to the fact that he has won their last three finals (Indian Wells, ’14, Wimbledon, '14, World Tour Finals, ’12)
136
Career ATP titles between the two. Federer, five years Djokovic's senior, has the edge of 80 to 46. Federer has three titles on the season, while Djokovic leads the tour with five, including one last week in Beijing.
22-19
Federer owns 22 career Masters titles to Djokovic's 19, but Federer has never won Shanghai and Djokovic is the two-time defending champion. Djokovic is bidding to reach his 30th career Masters final, while Federer is bidding for No. 39.
11-5
Djokovic's record against Federer in deciding sets, including victories in six of the last seven deciders.
27-8
Record of player who wins the first set when Federer and Djokovic play. Federer is only 17-7 when taking the first set against Djokovic, far from a lock. Djokovic is 10-1 when he takes the opener.
1-1
Federer is even with Djokovic in Grand Slam finals. Remarkably, prior to Wimbledon this year, the pair hadn’t met at this stage in a major since Djokovic’s maiden Slam final at the 2007 U.S. Open. Federer won 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-4.
The rivals have met 12 times in Slams and split six apiece. That includes their first Grand Slam final, which you can watch below:
67
The lowest ranking that either player has taken into a meeting with the other. Djokovic was a qualifier ranked 67 in the world when he faced Federer in the first round at Monte Carlo in 2006. Federer was ranked eighth when he faced Djokovic in Dubai this year, which is the lowest ranking he's ever held when facing the Serb. In 17 of their previous 35 meetings, one or the other held the No. 1 ranking (Federer 12 times, Djokovic 5).
Federer comes in ranked No. 3, while Djokovic is ranked No. 1.
Federer will climb to No. 2 next week, regardless of the result of the semifinal.
18
Number of tiebreakers the pair have played, with each player winning nine. The pair split two tiebreakers at the Wimbledon final, with Federer winning the first set breaker and Djokovic taking the third.
985
Number of hard court wins that the pair have amassed collectively. Federer has 604 hard court wins to go with 54 titles, while Djokovic has 381 wins and 35 titles.
1.25 million
Djokovic's edge in Twitter followers, which has dropped from 1.29 million from the time of their Wimbledon final.
9,298,852 Million
Federer more than makes up for the Twitter deficit with a giant Facebook advantage, though Djokovic is gaining steadily these days.