Novak Djokovic overtakes Rafael Nadal to record highest win percentage in history following Astana triumph

Former World No.1 Novak Djokovic has leapfrogged Rafael Nadal to record the highest win percentage in tennis history after winning the 2022 Astana Open on Sunday. Djokovic now has a win percentage of 83.293% with a win/loss record of 1022-205 whereas Rafael Nadal has a win percentage of 83.281% with 1066 wins and 214 losses.

The Serbian overtook his great rival Nadal after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets by a 6-3, 6-4 scoreline to win his 90th singles ATP title and claim the 1022nd win of his career. Roger Federer, who recently retired, has the fourth-best win percentage of 82% with a win/loss record of 1251-275, while Bjorn Born is in the third position with an 82.44% win percentage and a 654-140 win/loss record.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have shared a great rivalry with each other over the years. Both of the veterans have played each other on 59 occasions, with Djokovic winning 30 and Nadal winning 29 matches.

The last meeting between the duo was in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Roland Garros, which the Spaniard won in a four-set contest before going on to win his 14th French Open title.

"My intention was to always reach highest heights in our sport" - Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic at Laver Cup 2022. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup

With his 90th ATP title, Novak Djokovic joined the elite list of Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, all of whom have won 90 or more titles. Federer has won a total of 103 ATP titles in his glorious career whereas Nadal has won 92 titles so far.

After winning the Tel Aviv Watergen Open last week, Djokovic won in the capital of Kazakhstan this week to continue his rich vein of form of late. Speaking in his on-court interview after the triumph, the Serb remarked that his aim had always been to reach the top echelons in the tennis world from a young age.

“I dared to dream, actually,” he said, as quoted by ATP Tour. “I always hoped that I would be going to have a great career. Obviously, didn’t know the amount of finals I was going to play, the amount of tournaments I was going to win, but my intention was always to reach the highest heights in our sport.”

Djokovic, 35, is grateful that he is still going strong and, the 21-time Grand Slam champion feels his experience of playing big matches is proving to be a great advantage in the closing stages of the season.

“I’m just very grateful and blessed to be able to play this well at this stage of my life,” Djokovic said. “You know, 35 is not 25. But I think the experience, probably, in these kinds of matches and big occasions helps as well to approach mentally in the right way.”

With this win, Novak Djokovic has also qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be played in Turin from November 13.