Top 5 men's tennis matches of 2018

#2 Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic - Wimbledon Semifinals

Day Twelve: The Championships - Wimbledon 2018

Many expected Rafael Nadal to withdraw from the Wimbledon Championships, given that he did not play any grass tournament prior to Wimbledon.

However, he defied the odds and everyone's expectations to come fighting through to the semifinals. Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, was looking for his first title in over a year and the way he came through to the semis, it looked like he was back in business.

What ensued in the semis between the two rivals was high-octane tennis of the highest quality. Due to the longest ever semifinal played between John Isner and Kevin Anderson in the first semifinal, Djokovic and Nadal played out three sets on Friday night before playing the final two sets on Saturday.

The first four sets were split 2-2 amongst both and the fifth set witnessed a lot of drama. Nadal had Djokovic at 15-40 twice in the fifth set only to see the Serb produce some magical shots to get out of trouble.

In the end, he came out on top to topple the Spaniard and even went on to win the title against Kevin Anderson in the final. This was the second longest semifinal in Wimbledon history, behind the Anderson-Isner match.

Result: Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11), 3-6, 10-8