From Djokovic to unknown and retired: who are the 11 tennis players who have “as son” Rafa Nadal

After 42 days off the pitch due to an abdominal injury, the same that led him to retire from the Wimbledon semi-finals, Rafael Nadal come to Cincinnati with the illusion of adding games, good sensations and taking the pace of the competition to arrive well prepared for the USEOpen.

He could even go back to world number 1 if he wins the e Daniel Medvedev did not reach the quarter-finals. However, none of this happened. You lost just a little on your debut, 7-6, 4-6 and 6-3 against Borna Coric, and soon greeted the American Masters 1000.

“When you face a player who serves very well and shows a good level, if you don’t take advantage of your chances you can fall. And that’s what happened. I couldn’t play as aggressive as I needed. “Rafa summed up. And I add: “The ideal when you come back from an injury is to win the first game because it gives you confidence. It can’t be, but I still know this path well.”

It is not the first time that Coric has beaten Nadal. The Croatian, who will face Roberto Bautista Agut in the next instance, has already beaten him three times and this Wednesday’s victory gave him the advantage in personal clashes 3-2.

He had beaten him in the quarter-finals in Basel in 2014 and also in the third round of the 2016 Cincinnati M1000, taking advantage of one of the worst versions of the Majorcan, who won the US Open 2015 and Canada 2017.

In this way, the one born in Zagreb He was one of four players with a positive record against Rafa after facing him four or more times.

The leader of this particular list, with a huge distance from the rest, is Novak Djokovic. The rivalry between the Serbian and the Spanish is the most repeated in the history of men’s tennis, with a minimum advantage for Nole after 59 games played: 30-29. A true Superclassic of tennis, surpassed only by the 80s of Navratilova vs. Evert (43-37 in favor of Martina).

Then, it appears in this selected group Nikolai Davydenko, the Russian who retired in 2014 dominating 6-5 in the Head To Head, including two Masters 1000 finals between those victories: Miami 2008 and Shanghai 2009, precisely two titles that the 22 Grand Slam champion has never managed to raise.

The most surprising thing, and which illustrates the dominance of the Ukrainian-born tennis player, is that he said goodbye to tennis with a resounding 6-1 on hard court. Four of the five ‘King of Clay’ triumphs were on clay, his favorite surface.

Finally, in this particular statistic Domenico Hrbatywho beat him three times, including Nadal’s first ATP final: Auckland 2004. The Slovak took advantage of a 17-year-old and also beat him the year before in Lyon, only to retire years later with a 3-1 record.

Nadal, to zero

Eight other players have faced him up to twice, with 100% wins, three of which did so in the Majorcan’s adolescence.

alex corretja He beat him twice in 2003, in Barcelona and Madrid, when Rafa was 16. the Thai Parador Srichaphan, For his part, he overtook him on his absolute Grand Slam debut, with just 17 years at Wimbledon 2003, while Oliver Exit He won in Palermo 2004, at the age of 18.

Then with Chris Guccione, in Sydney 2007, did not complete a set and had to retire with a right adductor injury with a score of 6-5. The previous year, another one who beat him in their only confrontation was the Swede Joachim Johansson: 6-4 and 7-6 in Stockholm.

Closer in time, the “Rastaman” Dusty brown harnessed his command of weed and won at Halle 2014 and Wimbledon 2015, while Lloyd Harris ended his 2021 season 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in Washington.

The 11 players who have Nadal “as their son”

• Novak Djokovic: 30-29 *
• Nikolai Davydenko: 6-5
• Borna Coric: 3-2 *
• Domenico Hrbaty: 3-1
• Dusty Brown: 2-0 *
• Alex Corretja: 2-0
• Lloyd Harris: 1-0 *
• Joachim Johansson: 1-0
• Chris Guccione: 1-0
• Olivier Mutis: 1-0
• Paradorn Srichaphan: 1-0

* Active tennis players