By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, June 2, 2015

 

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will square off for the 44th time--and 13th time at a major--on Wednesday in Paris. We go inside the numbers below.

Photo Source: AFP

No two rivals in ATP history have met more than them, and on the eve of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic's heavily anticipated French Open quarterfinal, we take a journey inside the numbers of this storied rivalry.

44
The numbers of times that Nadal and Djokovic will have met after Saturday, which will be the most of any two players in Open Era history.

More than:

Djokovic vs. Federer (39, Federer leads 20-19)
McEnroe v. Lendl (36, Lendl leads 21-15)
Becker v. Edberg (35, Becker leads 25-10 )
Lendl v. Connors (35, Lendl leads 22-13)
Sampras v. Agassi (34, Sampras leads 20-14)
McEnroe vs. Connors (34, McEnroe leads 20-14)
Federer vs. Nadal (Nadal leads 23-10)


8
Djokovic is bidding to become the 8th player in Open Era history to own the career Grand Slam.

10
Nadal is bidding for his tenth Roland Garros title this year in Paris, which would mean that he would own more singles titles at a single major than any other woman (Martina Navratilova owns 9 Wimbledon singles titles).

290
The combined number of weeks that Nadal and Djokovic have spent at No. 1 as of this week. Nadal has 141 and Djokovic has 149.

3
Djokovic is the only man to have won 3 Grand Slam matches against Nadal. Only 5 men have won multiple Grand Slam matches against the Spaniard (Federer, Ferrer, Hewitt and Murray each have 2).

24
Number of consecutive Grand Slam quarterinals that Djokovic has now achieved. Only Federer (36) and Connors (27) have ever achieved more.

5
Number of consecutive Roland Garros semifinals Nadal has achieved. If Nadal wins today he will take sole occupancy of 1st place on the list for most consecutive Roland Garros semifinal appearances; if Djokovic wins he will join Federer and Nadal at the top of the list with 5.

23-20
Nadal holds the edge in the pair's career head-to-head mark.

1
The numbers of players to own four or more victories against Rafael Nadal on clay. Novak Djokovic notched his fifth in Monte-Carlo this spring.

5
The number of winning streaks of three or more matches that Rafael Nadal has put together against Novak Djokovic.

26
Djokovic's current winning streak, which dates back to a loss to Federer in the Dubai final in February.

23
The number of finals that the pair have contested. Djokovic leads 13-10, on the strength of a 7-3 edge in hard court finals. Nadal leads 6-5 in clay-court finals.

13
Number of Grand Slam encounters that Nadal and Djokovic will have had after Wednesday. 

More than:

Federer-Djokovic, 12 (6-6)

More than:
Federer-Nadal, 11 (Nadal leads 9-2)
Lendl-McEnroe, 10 (Lendl leads 7-3)

Nadal leads the Grand Slam series 9-3, on the strength of his 6-0 Roland Garros mark vs. Djokovic.

7
The longest winning streak that one has achieved against the other. Djokovic won seven consecutive finals against Nadal, beginning at Indian Wells in 2011 and ending at the Australian Open in 2013. Nadal's longest streak against Djokovic is five.

6-4
Nadal holds the edge in deciding sets against Djokovic, but the pair have split their two fifth sets, with Djokovic winning in Australia in 2012 and Nadal winning at Roland Garros in 2013.

14-5
Nadal's record against Djokovic on clay. The Spaniard has taken five of the last eight, but Djokovic has won five of ten after Nadal had won the first nine on dirt.

339-29
Nadal's record on clay, which includes 46 titles and a 311-19 record since 2005.

159-40
Djokovic's record on clay, which includes 11 titles.

8-4
Nadal’s record against Djokovic in tiebreakers on clay.

5/29/2006
The date the Djokovic and Nadal played their first tour-level match. Djokovic retired after dropping the first two sets in the 2006 French Open quarterfinals.

7
Number of Grand Slam finals that the pair have played. Nadal leads 4-3.

81
Length of Nadal's career-best clay-court winning streak. His current streak is now at 4.

3
Remarkably, Djokovic is the only man to own three or more Grand Slam victories against Nadal. Roger Federer, David Ferrer, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Murray each own two. 

14
Number of times that the pair have met as No. 1 and No. 2 in the world. Djokovic carried the No. 1 ranking against No. 2 Nadal six times, going 3-3.

That part isn’t so remarkable, but this is: Nadal has held the No. 1 ranking eight times against No. 2 Djokovic, going 1-7!!! Strange, yet true. Nadal is 7-8 lifetime against the Serb when he holds the No. 1 ranking.

On Wednesday, No. 1 Djokovic will face No. 7 Nadal. 7 is the lowest ranking that either will carry in a head-to-head matchup since Djokovic was No. 10 in the world in their third meeting, which occurred in Miami in 2007.

5:53
The length of their 2012 Australian final, which is the longest Grand Slam final in the history of tennis.