Djokovic's 5 most epic rivalries of the 2010s

#2 Rafael Nadal: 33 matches

Djokovic dealt Nadal his first straight-set loss in a Slam final at the 2019 Australian Open finalRoger Federer

Djokovic dominated his rivalry with Rafael Nadal in the 2010s, winning 21 of the pair's 33 matches. The Serb went 3-3 with the Spaniard in Slam finals during this period and 15-7 in all tournament finals.

Djokovic beat Nadal in 7 consecutive finals from 2011 Indian Wells to the 2012 Australian Open and is the only player to beat the Spaniard at Roland Garros (also Robin Soderling) when he beat the 9-time champion in straight sets in the 2015 quarterfinals.

Lasting 5 hours 53 minutes, the 2012 Australian Open title clash between Djokovic and Nadal became the longest ever Grand Slam final. The Serb is also the only player to hand Nadal a straight-set defeat in a Slam final (2019 Australian Open).

The 2010s decade saw Djokovic claim the lead in the pair's head-to-head for the very first time. Djokovic and Nadal's clash in the 2017 Madrid quarterfinals (won by Nadal) was an Open Era record 50th meeting between the pair. Djokovic is 9-0 over Nadal in the pair's last 9 clashes outside of clay and is 14-2 in the pair's last 16 non-clay meetings. Nadal's lone pair of wins during this period came in the 2013 Coupe Rogers and the 2013 US Open.

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#1 Roger Federer: 35 matches

Like in his rivalry with his fellow Big-3 peer Nadal, Djokovic also dominated his rivalry with Roger Federer in the 2010s, winning 21 of the pair's 35 meetings during the period as he took the lead in the pair's head-to-head for the very first time.

Against Federer, Djokovic went 4/4 in Slam finals, 2/2 in ATP Finals finals (2014 final where Federer withdrew before the match does not count as a win but counts in Djokovic's overall title tally), 5/8 in Masters 1000 finals and 1/1 in ATP 500 finals (2015 Dubai). At the 2018 Cincinnati final against Federer, Djokovic tasted victory for the first time in 6 title matches at the tournament to become the first player to win the career Masters (all 9 Masters 1000 tournaments during the course of one's career).

Djokovic saved match points against Federer in consecutive US Open semifinals in 2010-11 A pair of saved championship points in the 2019 Wimbledon final in a historic first-ever Wimbledon match to feature a 5th set tiebreak made Djokovic the first Wimbledon champion in 71 years to save match points in the final as Federer was denied a record-extending 9th title at the tournament.

You may also like: Novak Djokovic and his fascination for saving match points.

A defeat to Federer in the third round-robin match at the 2019 ATP Finals was Djokovic's 100th of the decade as the Serb lost for the first time against Federer in 6 matches dating back to the pair's round-robin clash at the 2015 edition of the same competition. Federer had also stopped Djokovic from equalling McEnroe's record of best ever-start to a season (42-0) when he beat the Serb in the 2011 Roland Garros semifinals, in the process handing Djokovic a first defeat of the season in 42 matches.