Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells: A look into the duo's rivalry

The Indian Wells Open is the first tournament of the Sunshine Doubles held in the United States in spring. It is also the second-most prestigious tennis tournament held in the US after the US Open and is one of nine Masters 1000 tournaments in the ATP Tour calendar.

Both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are expected to feature in this year’s edition of the Indian Wells Masters in March. Djokovic has won the tournament five times (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016) and Nadal has done so thrice (2007, 2009 and 2013).

The two have met each other four times in Indian Wells, with Djokovic leading the head-to-head 3-1.

Nadal’s topspin-heavy forehand is less of weapon on hard courts than it is on high-bouncing clay. Hence, the Serb, who probably has the greatest backhand of all time, has been able to nullify the Spaniard’s crosscourt forehand to a great extent. He has dominated the latter on hard courts during the last decade or so.

Let us now take a look at the four occasions on which those two met in Indian Wells:

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#1 2007 Final (Nadal won 6-2, 7-5)

Nadal was a precocious 20-year-old when he met with Djokovic, who was still in his teens, in the 2007 Indian Wells Masters final. The Spaniard had already established himself as the premier clay-court player in the world, while the Serb had started showing glimpses of his enormous potential.

Nadal’s court-coverage at that point in time was absolutely outstanding and he demonstrated it in the final. He also kept blasting his inside-out forehand repeatedly to trouble his opponent.

Djokovic's backhand and serve were less of weapons then, and he also played his forehand high, allowing his opponent time to hit his inside-out shot.

Nadal raced through the opening set and although Djokovic fared better in the second, the former had little trouble in winning the match in straight sets to earn his first title there.

#2 2008 semifinal (Djokovic won 6-3, 6-2)

Djokovic got even with Nadal the very next year. The former had won his first Grand Slam title in Australia a couple of months back, and looked a better and stronger player than he had the previous year.

He broke the Spaniard repeatedly after the two had shared the first six games in the match, registering an easy win to book a place in the final. He then went on to beat Mardy Fish in the final to win his first title at Indian wells.

#3 2011 Final (Djokovic won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2)

Nadal was the World No. 1 when this match was played, but Djokovic was just starting arguably the best season of his career. The Serb was almost unbeatable in 2011, but to Nadal's credit, he won the first set by playing some impressive shots.

However, Djokovic, whose backhand was more powerful in 2011 than in previous years with a much flatter forehand, gained control of the proceedings from the second set onwards.

He won the second set and then raced to a 4-0 lead in the third set. Nadal managed to win a couple of games in the set, but Djokovic had no problem in finishing things off to win his second title at Indian Wells.

#4 2016 semifinal (Djokovic won 7-6, 6-2)

Nadal made a great start to the match by racing to a 2-0 lead. However, Djokovic managed to break back and take the first set into a tie-break. He then won the tie-break to draw first blood.

The Serb played nearly flawless tennis in the second set to give the Spaniard virtually no chance of staging a comeback. He won the set quite comfortably to set up a summit clash with Milos Raonic.

Djokovic then went on to thrash Raonic in the final to win his fifth title at the tournament.