As Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal prepare to renew their rivalry at Roland Garros on Tuesday with their 59th match, Telegraph Sport runs through the 10 greatest head-to-head match-ups in tennis history…
10. Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova (2004-19 – Head to head score 20-2)
I include this one with a slightly raised eyebrow. After Sharapova’s career-launching victory in the 2004 Wimbledon final, Williams took such prolonged revenge that this became known as the “un-rivalry” or the “anti-rivalry”. But the sheer scale of their mutual antipathy still made it box office. Just before Wimbledon in 2013, they supplied one of the most dramatic media day in tournament history when they had an undignified yet compelling row over their respective love-lives.
9. Steffi Graf vs Monica Seles (1989-99; 10-5)
These were two of the toughest minds in the history of tennis, a pair of steely match-players who never gave an inch. Their 15 meetings included six major finals. Seles won twice at Roland Garros, lost at Wimbledon, and seemed to be making a hard-court statement when she claimed the 1993 Australian Open. But then came the tragic incident in Hamburg, as a crazed Graf fan invaded the court and stabbed Seles between the shoulder-blades. Seles’s physical recovery didn’t take long, but she never regained her inner certainty.
8. Boris Becker vs Stefan Edberg (1984-96; 25-10)
These two archetypal serve-volley specialists contested three straight finals on Centre Court in between 1988 and 1990. And Edberg, though heavily outgunned in the overall rivalry, won two of them. The average rally length in those days must have been between one and two shots. (Wimbledon’s courts slowed in the late 1990s, with the introduction of rye grass in place of traditional bowling-green strains like bent and fescue). But Becker in particular had such charisma that it never seemed to matter.
7. John McEnroe vs Bjorn Borg (1978-81; 7-7)
The sun is always shining as we watch the 1981 Wimbledon tie-break for the umpteenth time. Well, actually, we don’t watch it so much anymore because modern roof technology has killed off rain-break nostalgia on the BBC’s TV coverage. Nevertheless, that well-worn video is still a time-machine, transporting us back to more innocent times. Borg was the one opponent whom McEnroe genuinely admired and respected, yet he quit the sport abruptly after losing their 1981 US Open final, walking out of the stadium before the presentation had even started. They still get together for exhibition matches, where Borg – who owns an underwear label – always presents his old mate with a packet of pants.
6. Pete Sampras vs Andre Agassi (1989-2002; 20-14)
The 1990s were not a famous decade for men’s tennis, thanks partly to the overwhelming dominance of the poker-faced Sampras. But Agassi’s presence did at least bring a little spice to the table. These two were not friends, to put it mildly. Agassi used his autobiography to snipe away at Sampras for being a bad tipper. The tennis, though, could be spectacular – notably in the 1999 Wimbledon final. “No tennis player in history – not Rod Laver, not even Roger Federer – could have lived with Sampras that day,” wrote the noted columnist Simon Barnes. “Partisanship is great, drama is great, but the greatest of all is excellence.”
5. Rod Laver vs Ken Rosewall (1963-77; 89-75)
The statistics are contested, for this was an age when not every result was accurately logged, and when “Barnstormers” like Laver and Rosewall would play exhibition matches in high-school gyms on an old carpet that they rolled up every night. Both Australians, they were again a contrasting pair. Laver was short and powerful with a boxer’s mighty left forearm, while the skinny Rosewall was ironically known as “Muscles”. Laver now has his own tournament named after him, while Rosewall remains – in Laver’s words – “the least appreciated great player in the history of tennis”.
4. Margaret Court vs Billie Jean King (22-10)
The only rivalry on this list to have been immortalised in a Hollywood movie: 2017’s Battle Of The Sexes. Yes, you thought that was about BJK playing Bobby Riggs, but the real antagonist – with her unyielding Christian principles – was Court. The clash of ideologies continues until this day, with Margaret Court still claiming naming rights over one of the main stadia at Melbourne Park, despite her rejection of homosexuality as a valid life choice.
3. Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer (2004-19, 24-16)
From a pure tennis perspective, this might be the greatest of the lot – a rivalry which scores highly for contrast, but loses a mark for a disappointing lack of needle.
We all remember Federer walking onto Centre Court in his gold-stitched white jacket: the classic ice-cool northern European. Whereas Nadal represents the archetypal passionate Mediterranean in pirate pants and sleeveless shirt, biceps bulging like watermelons.
Together, they gave us arguably the greatest individual match ever played: the 2008 Wimbledon final.
2. Martina Navratilova vs Chris Evert (1973-88; 43-37)
For sheer longevity, this is the outstanding rivalry in tennis history and is likely to remain so until the great umpire in the sky calls time. These two were so much better than the field that the preliminary rounds of tournaments were reduced to near-irrelevance. Astonishingly, 60 of their 80 singles meetings on the tour came in finals. Also, it was a classic contrast of styles with Navratilova’s lefty net-rushing coming up against Evert’s relentless baseline game.
1. John McEnroe vs Jimmy Connors (1977-91; 20-14)
I’ve put this one on top because it’s the match I would most like to attend. McEnroe raging at the umpire. Connors making obscene gestures with his racket handle. Clash of styles. Clash of personalities. Headbands. Super-short shorts. Classic Dunlop Maxply wooden racket on one side. Radical, ground-breaking yet ugly-as-hell Wilson steel T2000 on the other. These guys hated each other with a passion, and in doing so, they made tennis the multi-billion-dollar sport it is today.