Djokovic: “Playing Nadal at Roland-Garros is one of the biggest challenges you can face in tennis.”

What is a greater achievement, than beating Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros, without lifting the title, or winning an ATP 250, 500, or even Masters 1000?

The fact that you need time to think about the answer is a testament to just how extraordinarily dominant the Spaniard has been on clay throughout his incomparable career.

Never before in history has a player reigned so supreme on any surface, and the supremacy is even greater at Roland-Garros.

Since the start of his career, the left-handed Majorcan has compiled 478 wins and 47 defeats on clay courts. That’s a 91.05% success rate, which is a record in the Open era, ahead of Roger Federer, with 86.9% on grass, and Björn Borg, 86.1% on clay.

In best-of-five sets – Roland-Garros, Davis Cup, Masters 1000 finals, and ATP 500 until 2006 – he established an even more unbelievable ratio: 137 matches won, three lost.

All three losses came in Paris, against two men. Robin Söderling in 2009, then Novak Djokovic in 2015 and 2021. The other 112 times Nadal has stepped onto the court at Roland-Garros, he has come out on top, which makes a 97.4% success rate. This is the highest win percentage in history at a Grand Slam, ahead of Borg – who had a much shorter career – with 96.1% at Roland Garros and 92.7% at Wimbledon.

As Djokovic put in before facing Nadal in 2021, “It’s not a match like any other. Let’s face it, playing against Nadal on the beaten court, on the court where he has had the most success in his career, is the biggest challenge you can have. Especially in the last few laps, you won’t be able to find a bigger (challenge) than this.”

Speaking to the media in Rome on Wednesday, the 24-time Grand Slam winner, reiterated these words when asked about his great rival.

“Playing Rafa at Roland-Garros is one of the biggest challenges you can face in tennis,” he said.

“We know his records there. I’m probably the one who has faced him the most on this court (Phillipe-Chatrier).”

 “The court is bigger, there is more space (behind the lines), which has a big impact on the game visually and the player’s feelings,” Djokovic explained.

“He likes to stay quite far behind his line on the return. When he’s in the zone, in his pace, when he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, sometimes you feel like he’s insurmountable, like a wall,” he added.

“It’s a paramount challenge to play him in Roland-Garros. He’s an incredible athlete. The tenacity and intensity he brings on the court, particularly there, is something that was very rarely seen I think in the history of this sport.”

 “I’m sure it’s going to be an emotional tournament for him like it probably was in Madrid or as it probably will be here (in Rome),” he continued.

“But even more so at Roland-Garros, because of its history.”

At the end of May, or beginning of June an unseeded Nadal could meet Djokovic as early as the first round.

The most successful singles player in the history of a single Grand Slam, against the greatest male player in Grand Slam history. This is the kind of match that goes beyond the realm of tennis, or sport and takes on folklore status.