The greatest rivalry in men’s tennis takes center stage again at the US Open on Sunday when world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and 17-time Grand Slam men’s singles champion Roger Federer do battle inside Arthur Ashe Stadium to decide the final major of the year.
Djokovic and Federer have met 41 times in their careers, starting in 2006 when the pair first squared off on the clay of Monte Carlo, with Federer holding the narrowest of edges, up 21-20. He also leads, 16-14, on hard courts.
Their six most recent contests, and eight of their past 10, have been in finals. In total, the pair has played 16 finals and another 21 semifinals against one another.
They have also met 13 times in Grand Slams, with Djokovic leading that particular head-to-head, 7-6. They have split their eight hard-court matches at Slams at four apiece, with Djokovic holding a 2-1 advantage in Australia and Federer leading their US Open matchups, 3-2. They have shared their two matches at Roland Garros and Djokovic leads, 2-1, on the grass of Wimbledon.
Of those matches at Slams, three have been in finals: Federer triumphed at the 2007 US Open and Djokovic beat the Swiss for the trophy in each of the past two years at Wimbledon.
What makes their rivalry even more exciting is that there’s rarely been a blowout and neither player has ever won more than three consecutive matches against the other since Federer won their first four career meetings, which began when Djokovic was still a teenager.
The pair has contested 120 sets, exactly half of which have been decided by a score of 6-4, 7-5 or 7-6. Just five have been 6-1 sets and only once, in Cincinnati three years ago when Federer won the title, has a bagel been thrown up on the scoreboard. Eight matches have seen a player rally from at least a one-set deficit, including two of the most memorable matches ever played in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
