Rafael Nadal might be the No.1 men's singles player in the world right now, but the threat of Novak Djokovic to reclaim his old spot atop the ATP world rankings looms large.
After a torrid start on the hard court, Nadal finally showed he is human after all following his loss to Djokovic in the championship match of the China Open and Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinal of the Shanghai Masters.
Nadal did accomplish the very reason why he competed in a couple of tournaments in China and that's collecting enough points to regain the world's No.1 ranking for the first time since 2011. However, the Spaniard's season is far from over. With the Serb finding his groove again, the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry is primed for more fiery battles towards the end of the ATP year.
For Djokovic, the Asian circuit of the ATP Tour has been a timely blessing. Prior to his China Open triumph, the Serb hasn't won a single tournament since the Monte Carlo Masters last April. In fact, Djokovic didn't win a match against Nadal for three straight times (French Open, Montreal Masters and US Open) before pulling off a breakthrough victory against the Spaniard and another title at the Shanghai Masters.
On the other hand, Nadal bagged the Montreal Masters, Cincinnati Masters and U.S. Open on his way to racking up 22 straight wins on hard court. Nadal continued to dominate on perhaps his weakest surface in the Beijing tourney, but his run ended against the Serb in the final.
After three straight setbacks at the hands of Nadal, Djokovic bought in a perfect gameplan to shatter the bludgeoning playing style of the Mallorcan Bull. Considered as the finest returner in the game, Djokovic was able to break his rival's service more efficiently and produce a number of baseline winners. Meanwhile, Nadal struggled to put more spin on his return because of Djokovic's picture perfect forehands and grounders.
"I was not able to have any chance when I was returning during the whole match. He had the ball staying very low. It was very difficult to create spin on this ball. He was able to hit all the balls where he wants to hit. When that's happening against a player like Novak, you are dead. You don't have not one chance. So that's what happened. I played against a great player, one of the best players that I ever seen playing very well. Was not the day to beat him," said Nadal after his 6-3, 6-4 loss to the Serb, according to Rafael Nadal Fans.
Facing this kind of scenario, Nadal (11,520) and Djokovic (11,120) are expected to raise their game to another level in the upcoming tournaments with the world's No.1 ranking very much up for grabs. Though the Spaniard has the advantage of not defending a single point this season, Djokovic's recent form is enough reason to get fans excited about this great rivalry.
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