The Greatest Rivalries in Tennis

BHAGYA IYYAVOO

Joe Frazier vs Muhammad Ali in boxing; Cryuff vs Beckenbaeur in football; Tendulkar vs Lara in cricket.

Grand rivalries. Sport has always needed them. Tennis is no exception. Even the one between a Vitas Gerulaitis and Jimmy Connors, which yielded that immortal quote – “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row” – will do. Rivalries offer the theatrics, the life blood, the elixir that make sport throb and thrive.

The grandest of these are what elevate sport, turn it into a ‘religion’ with the legions of fans ready to pay obeisance at the altars of the stars they see as their high priests.

A look then at ten of tennis’ most memorable rivalries, which underline this immutable fact.

Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal The two grand masters of world tennis, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal clashed for the first time in 2004 on March 27 at the Miami ATP 1000 event. On the left corner was the then 17-year-old Nadal and on the right corner the 22-year-old World No. 1, then the winner of two Grand Slam titles.

In the commentators’ words, the teenager, with his brilliant play and punishing groundstrokes, was racing to eclipse the record held by Andy Roddick - of being the first teenager to defeat the No. 1 player on the tour. (Roddick as a 19-year-old had beaten Gustavo Keurten in 2001).

Dominating Federer from start to finish, Nadal went on to triumph 6-3 6-3, which at that stage was unsurprisingly the biggest win of his career. The Spaniard was ranked No. 34 at that point of time and had never even won an ATP tour title.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal

Federer in a later interview admitted that at that moment, he knew a new champion was born and that he would go on to challenge him and even replace him at the top.

In their nearly 40 meetings (38 when this article was written) since, Federer and Nadal have clashed mostly in the semifinals or the finals, with less than five matches played in the earlier stages. Their 2008 Wimbledon final is considered the best tennis match ever played.

Nine of those meetings have come in Grand Slam finals, with Nadal leading 6-3.

They’ve won a combined total of 37 Grand Slam titles. With 20 and 17, respectively, Federer and Nadal are No. 1 and No. 2 on the all-time list of men with the most Grand Slam singles titles. Need we say more!

Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic If one goes by the quality of tennis in the match-ups between Nadal and Djokovic, this rivalry challenges the Roger-Rafa and probably even surpasses it.

The head-to-head between the two is split almost evenly.

It remains, in the open era, the biggest rivalry in terms of meetings (51 at the time of this article) between two players.

Novak played Rafa for the first time when the latter was attempting to win his second Roland Garros title. The newcomer retired after losing the first two sets.

It took three meetings for Novak to get the better of Rafa and the confidence was such that he eventually went on to win that title. Suddenly, his backhand turned out to the weapon to counter Rafa’s blistering forehand.

The rivalry got intense at the 2010 US Open when Rafa dominated the Serb on his least favourite surface to complete his career grand slam. A few months later at Indian Wells in 2011 marked a turning point. Djokovic began dominating the encounters, winning 19 of the 28 matches played since.

The 2012 Australian Open final saw their rivalry being sealed as one of the greatest in tennis history.

The title clash turned out to be a five-set thriller lasting a record breaking 5 hours 53 minutes

where each point was competed at the highest level before Djokovic prevailed. In the end, both players admitted that it was the best tennis they had ever played.

Another memorable match was the 2013 semi-final clash between the two at Roland Garros, termed by one the game’s greatest Bjorn Borg as the greatest clay encounter ever by. This rollercoaster five-set thriller sealed Nadal’s eighth French Open title.

Four years earlier, in the semis of the 2009 Madrid Masters, Nadal had won a grueling encounter by saving three match points in the process. The match, at 4 hours and 3 minutes, was the longest three-set singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era (later surpassed by the Olympic semifinal between Federer and Del Potro in 2012).

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi

The first contest between the two Americans dates back to the days when they were not even teenagers. In a junior tournament in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Agassi beat his one-year junior Sampras, who only came up to his chin then, 6-1 7-6.

I was 7 and he was 8. Andre was this crazy guy from Vegas. I believe he took me down, Sampras later recalled.

Nearly, 40 years later, this iconic rivalry is still remembered fondly by millions of fans with the 1995 US Open final remaining one of the top highlights of their career.

Their contrasting styles of play made this rivalry ‘iconic’.

Agassi’s clean ball-striking and lightning reflexes helping him combat Sampras’ power and precision and his inimitable net game. The biggest rivalry in American tennis in the 1990s led the two to become world number ones and multiple Grand Slams. “Pete and I were both opposite kind of players which meant for some all-court style tennis,” Agassi remembered.

Sampras with a 20-14 lead in the overall head-to-head and a 4-1 advantage in major finals, including a trio of US Open wins, leads Agassi 6-3 in Grand Slam events.

Everything about his game just forced me to raise my level. He was the best player I played in my career and I played a lot of great players but he was a very special one, Sampras said later.

‘One of us was trying to impose our game on the other at all times. I always went on the court knowing I had to play well but even if I did, I had no say in how the match was gonna go. I could get my wins here and there but he was the only guy I ever played where I felt I could play my best tennis and still lose’ was Agassi’s memory.

Pete Sampras and Andre Aggasi

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova

In women’s tennis, there has never been a rivalry to match that involving the two best friends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. This baseliner versus volleyer story, a clear clash of dialects is still tagged as a unique tennis duet by the game’s faithfuls.

The two played each other an incredible 80 times between 1973 and 1988, including 60 finals in 16 years of which 14 were at Grand Slams.

I knew I needed to get to No. 1, and for that I needed to beat Chris, and for that I needed to do some things a lot better, Navratilova later recalled.

Between passing shots, steely glares, acrobatic volleys and emotional meltdowns, the two had great respect for each other.

“From the first time I appeared on the tour, I got the feeling she

honestly felt bad when I lost and happy when I won,” Martina wrote in her autobiography.

Evert, the baseliner who dominated clay courts, contested Grand Slam finals a record 34 times. However, when it came to their rivalry head-to-head, it was the lefthanded Czech who led with 43 wins. Evert had to be content winning the other 37of their 80 meetings!

Navratilova, at her best, was better than Evert at her best, she later said.

John McEnroe vs Bjorn Borg

Challenging rivalries bring out a sportsman’s best and at times their worst.

Bjorn Borg, the first man in the open era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles retired at the age of 26, less than two years after his first major final with John McEnroe.

The tennis sensation of the mid 1970s walked out of the game after his final loss to McEnroe at the 1981 US Open, a major trophy he never won despite reaching four finals.

The quiet emotionless Swede found his Challenger in the boisterous American in the early 1980s. There were only 14 duels between Borg and Johnny Mac. Their rivalry was best described as that between ‘fire and ice’. The duo clashed in four major championships and McEnroe won three out of the four, but every point they contested had their rivalry written all over it.

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert

Both were contrasting personal ities. Edberg was an introvert while Becker the exact opposite. Despite their contrasting playing styles, they had their similarities. Both were serve and volleyers. The two met 35 times in their careers with Becker winning more than he lost as their head-tohead reads 25-10.

Steffi Graf vs Monica Seles

This is a rivalry that left tennis fans wondering what it could have been had it lasted longer.

Steffi Graf, tennis’ supreme

Steffi Graf and Monica Seles

Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg

This rivalry of the mid ‘80s and early ‘90s was the one that inspired Federer to choose tennis. Three of their four major clashes were Wimbledon Championships finals.

Between Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg it was never personal, just tennis. Despite the fact that out of their 35 meetings, 25 were in semifinals or finals.

Photo: Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA, Inc

athlete, found the going tough when up against this teenaged Yugoslavian. Seles, a relentless ball-striker and a grunting left-hander, arrived on the Grand Slam scene in 1989 and racked up eight grand slam titles by 1993. Three of those titles were won against the German, the most by a teenager in the open era, thus challenging Graf’s supremacy.

Seles being stabbed by a loony fan in 1993 ended the rivalry on a sour note and by the time both finished, Graf led their head-to-head 10-5.

Williams vs Williams

When Serena Williams faced her big sister Venus on the other side of the net in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open, it was only the second Grand Slam match of her career.

After Venus won 7-6, 6-1 against her 17-year-old sister, she admitted ‘it was weird’

“We’re gonna make a pact and be No. 1 and No. 2 so we only meet in the finals and then we won’t care because we’ll be playing for the title,” she said.

Well, they couldn’t stick to that compact. But their professional rivalry has now lasted more than 20 years, with Serena leading the headto-head 17-12. They clashed in five consecutive Grand Slam finals from the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Wimbledon, with Serena winning on all these occasions. Barring the 2008 Wimbledon final when Venus clinched her fifth Wimbledon title, Serena leads the head-to-head 9-2 in Grand Slam finals alone.

That Garbine Muguruza (2017 Wimbledon) and Martinal Hingis (1997 US Open) are the only two women to beat Venus in a major final besides Serena highlights what might have been if the younger sister had not been in the way!

Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova

When the Williams sisters were dominating women’s tennis, a 17-year-old Russian shocked the world by beating the younger Williams, that too in the final of the 2004 Wimbledon Championships.

But Serena has hit back and how! Serena 19 – Sharapova 3. It’s called the hypothetical rivalry for a reason. Only Serena can tell us what hap pened after that Wimbledon defeat as in the years that followed. The American got the better of Sharapo va in 17 straight matches. The only other win Sharapova managed came at the WTA Championships final and the most recent one was a walkover at the French Open this year.

Remember, Sharapova to her credit has five Grand Slam titles and has been ranked world No 1 in theworld. But when it came to Serena, she has somehow failed to crack the code.

Andy Roddick vs Roger Federer A one-sided rivalry mainly fuelled by the fans of the two players.

Andy Roddick, a multiple major champion, simply couldn’t beat Federer. He lost all eight major tournament encounters, including the 2006 US Open final and three Wimbledon finals – remember the

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams

Venus and Serena Williams

2009 title clash? It’s still hailed as one of the greatest matches of all time that needed a 30-game fifth set, which Roddick lost 16-14.

A-Rod came within touching distance of finally clinching an elusive win. But that was not to be.

Roger Federer and Andy Roddick