Novak Djokovoic vs. Rafael Nadal: Why Rafa Needs to Win Next

The 2012 Australian Open featured one of the best tennis matches of all-time, and it is one that will stick with Rafael Nadal for a very long time.

Nadal, 25, stayed competitive with Djokovic for five hours and 53 minutes of tennis before Novak ended the match at 1:37 A.M. Djokovic, 24, won his third Australian Open Title and four of the last five majors.

This match featured exhaustion, athleticism, excitement and rivalry: all things that make tennis the incredible sport that it is. Perhaps most exciting, however, is the fact that Nadal and Djokovic are both under 25 years old, and that this intense rivalry can continue for years to come.

Both players were extraordinarily respectful in the postgame speeches.

“Unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners,” said Djokovic.

“I enjoyed being part of this event and match…but that’s one of the losses I’m more happy about in my career,” Nadal added.

While the tone of the speeches was nothing but friendly in the postgame, the emotions of the match were anything but. In what proved to be by far the longest match in major’s history (four hours and 54 minutes at the US Open in 1988), the quickly paced back and forth excitement of the match left fans across the world with plenty of quality tennis to witness.

The two stars are young, fierce competitors and have given their fans lots to look forward to over the coming years of tennis competition. Novak Djokovic, the No.1 player in the world, has been on fire as of late. Nadal is a former No. 1 overall player in the world and is currently regarded as No. 2 overall.

For Nadal, however, this is his third straight loss in a major final. Nadal has lost to Djokovic in four sets at last year’s Wimbledon and US Open.

In 2011, Djokovic was 6-0 against Nadal, and the fates of the rivalry are starting to point more towards a lopsided advantage.

After the match, Nadal called it one that, “will be in my mind not because I lost, no, but because the way that we played.”

The fact that Nadal lost, of course, is absolutely a factor.

Nadal is known to be an extraordinarily physical tennis player, and that could be the reason why he continues to lose to Djokovic, as Nadal called this match the most physical he had ever played.

This is the seventh straight victory for Djokovic over Nadal, and the tides will have to turn soon for Rafa if he hopes to solidify this as a legitimate rivalry rather than a Djokovic advantage.

Nadal seemed to look better—and more mentally prepared—in this match than he had in any other match with Djokovic to date.

This was the closest he’d ever played him, and his strides of improvement are nothing but notable. His composure after the match seemed confident, and if he continues to reflect on the competition the way that he appeared to this morning than there could be good things in his future.

Rafa, however, has to make that happen before it’s too late.

Nadal, a lefty, will have to work on diminishing the impressiveness of Djokovic’s backhand the next time the two face each other by maximizing his advantage of his left hand.

The Nadal-Djokovic rivalry is easily the best in contemporary tennis, and a good tennis rivalry is always a good thing for the world of sports.

In the coming matches, Nadal is going to need to find the inner strength and determination to help confirm that this is actually as competitive as a rivalry as we’d hope for. If the matches go the way the last seven have, then Nadal may just turn into the most elite also-ran of our generation.