Novak Djokovic reveals 2 'greatest' matches he played against Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic played a lot of great matches in his career, but even he was able to pinpoint which two matches were the most difficult for him to play. In a feature for Head Tennis, which has been his racquet provider for over a decade, Djokovic spoke about a few things including those two matches.

The first one was the 2019 Wimbledon Final against Roger Federer, which is infamously remembered by lots of Federer fans for how it ended considering that he had two consecutive match points to win it but failed to do so. How it looked from Djokovic's side was explained by the man himself in the recent feature titled 'What's in your head?'.

"I remember it was late afternoon, the sun was very low so it was hard for visibility, for both player actually. He broke my serve and he was serving for it, I thin 8-7 in the 5th set. To play the super tiebreak at 12 all, men's final, long match, a match in which he was the better player statistically. He won more points, just had all the stats on his side but I just found a way to win in important moments, to play the right shots at the right time," Djokovic said. [2:32 onwards]

He would go on to name that match as one of the most nerve-wracking matches he ever played, which makes sense as he was on the verge of losing before making a tremendous comeback, altering both his and Federer's legacy permanently.

"I just try to make him play, make him earn his victory. He got tired a little bit, I used my momentum. Probably the most nerve-wrecking match I was ever part of," he added.

Lasting for a staggering 4 hours and 57 minutes, the match remains the longest Wimbledon match in history apart from being the last major final of Federer's career.

Novak Djokovic's rivalry with Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic talk during Day One of the Laver Cup- Source: Getty

While Rafael Nadal has famously called Roger Federer his greatest rival, for Djokovic it's always been Nadal, even if the feeling might not be mutual. The Serbian has repeated this a few times, noting the number of matches they played and the magnitude of those matches.

One of those was the 2012 Australian Open final, which the former World No. 1 won albeit after a tough battle. In fact, in the same video, he named it the second among the two greatest matches of his career alongside the Wimbledon final against Federer.

"Maybe another one I would add to that section was the 2012 win against Nadal in the Australian Open finals. But those two matches stand out as two greatest matches that I was ever part of," he noted. [3:46 onwards]

The 23 Grand Slam title-winner's career featured many great matches, but these two are the most memorable ones for him. Only time will tell if a few more of such high-voltage clashes are in store for fans.