If all goes according to plan, and seed, next Sunday tennis fans will be treated to the latest installment of Novak Djokovic versus Carlos Alcaraz. No. 1 versus No. 2. Decorated veteran versus bold upstart. Serb versus Spaniard (where have we seen that before?).
That hoped-for matchup, though, isn’t a long-evolving rivalry of multiple chapters strung across many years. Djokovic and Alcaraz have played just four times, all since 2022, with each player winning two. But all of their meetings have been classics–with the lone exception this year’s French Open semifinal, which was spine-tingling for two sets until the Spaniard suddenly came up lame with cramps and the match fizzled. Now that the Serb has leapfrogged his longtime rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the all-time major count, and the young Spaniard has vaulted to the top with two major titles, their matchup with the US Open (and No. 1 ranking) on the line is what most fans hope and expect will come to fruition in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Intense, personal rivalries are the lifeblood of tennis, which in singles pits two individuals alone on the court, facing off 78 feet across the net. The game thrives on these unique individual matchups, especially if they grow to be long-lived and produce the kind of memorable gladiatorial encounters that produce the best tennis from each. They are what bring new, curious fans to the sport. Think of the incredible rivalries tennis has seen in the last few decades, and the way they put tennis front and center on a world stage: McEnroe-Borg. Evert-Navratilova. Sampras-Agassi. Graf-Seles. Serena-Henin.
While those rivalries defined eras, the lore of some matchups exceeds the number of meetings on court or the evenness of the head-to-head. For all the glory of their contrasting styles and personalities, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg played each other just 14 times, which they split, and only four times at majors (where McEnroe won three; Borg won only the spectacular, five-set 1980 final at Wimbledon, the one with the nailbiter 18-16 fourth-set tiebreak). Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi met 34 times, but Sampras dominated the relationship, winning 20 (and four of five Grand Slam finals).
On the other hand, the rivalry between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova played out like a Tolstoy novel. The most prolific tennis rivalry of the Open Era, they faced each other a whopping 80 times between 1973 and 1988; 60 of those were tournament finals. Theirs was a classic matchup of a metronomic baseliner and America’s clean-cut sweetheart versus the aggressive, lefty serve-and-volleyer from behind the Iron Curtain. Navratilova won out in the overall head-to-head 43–37 (36–24 in finals).
Tennis itself is, at its most basic, a game of pure individual matchups: How one’s game, and strengths and weaknesses, match up against another’s. But rivalries constitute more than the Xs and Os of tennis. Rivalries also bring to bear a clash of personalities, of ability to deal with pressure, of countries, of passionate fan bases who live for one player and root mightily against another. Rivalries have the capacity to convert an individual clash nearly into a team sport.
Entering the final major of the year, Djokovic and Alcaraz have met in the money rounds of the last two Slams (they could not play at either last year’s US Open, which Alcaraz won, because Djokovic was ruled ineligible due to Covid restrictions; or the Australian Open, which Djokovic won and the Spaniard did not play because of injury). Djokovic is 36 and Alcaraz just 20. For now, their inchoate rivalry is the best thing going in tennis. Everything about their four previous matches suggests that we are witnessing the beginning of a great, budding rivalry—were it not for the age difference. Their matchup in this year's Wimbledon final was a classic that felt like the 2023 version of the all-court play and ping-pong ferocity of the 2008 Federer and Nadal title bout, a match that is generally acknowledged as the greatest in history.
As with all great rivalries, this matchup brings out the best in each player. The challenge posed by Alcaraz—especially in the absence of Nadal, who has taken most of the year off to recover from injury while he hopes to return for one last year in good health—has invigorated Djokovic even more at this late stage of his career.
Tennis fans have been spoiled by the spectacular rivalries of the past two decades. It began with Federer and Nadal, a rivalry so great it spawned its own nickname: Fedal. As Djokovic, the youngest of the three, rose to contend with them, we were treated to a three-way carousel as they battled each other for supremacy around the globe, trading off majors and dominating the game—and precluding others from a promising next generation from collecting almost any of the spoils—in a way the sport had never previously seen.
Federer and Nadal played 40 times; Nadal was the winner of 24 of those (and 14 of 24 finals). Nadal and Djokovic have faced off 59 times, including in all four major finals, with Djokovic leading 30-29 overall. Djokovic leads 15-13 in finals, while Nadal is ahead 11-7 at the majors (including 5-4 in major finals). Meanwhile, Djokovic and Federer played each other 50 times. Djokovic won the head-to-head 27-23 (13-6 in finals). Each is the only player to defeat the other at all four majors.
Djokovic and Alcaraz surely don’t have time to play catch up to those mind-boggling statistics, given their age gap. But at this moment, their encounters feel like the tennis equivalent of “Succession.” Djokovic and Alcaraz present a tantalizing encounter between an elder statesman, with all he has done for the game, and a ridiculously mature youngster, with all the new facets he brings to tennis.
After the final at Wimbledon, few could resist categorizing Alcaraz’s defeat of Djokovic as the definitive passing of the torch between the Big Three and the upstart Spaniard. But the 36-year-old Serb, as we saw in their most recent matchup at the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, which Djokovic won 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-6(4), hardly seems willing to cede the stage.
If Alcaraz remains at the top, eventually someone will have to take Djokovic’s place to replicate the exhilarating heights of the past 15 years. Will it be the 22-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner? Last year’s US Open semifinal between Alcaraz and Sinner was an absolute barn-burner, a five-setter that finished at 2:50 am; the two have evenly split their six matches. Or could it be the promising Dane Holger Rune? Or the massive-serving, fresh-faced American Ben Shelton–a new first-time US Open quarterfinalist–both of whom are just 20, the same age as Alcaraz?
It’s not only the men who present hopes for great, evolving rivalries. Even though there hasn’t been an intense rivalry in women’s tennis recently, as a rotating cast of players have snatched major wins over the last few years, there is certainly great potential: Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. Or perhaps the 19-year-old American Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva, still just a prodigy at 16.
Those matchups hold enormous promise as rivalries that will catapult tennis into its next phase. Head-to-head rivalries are the most entertaining, and intriguing, element of the game. And also one of its biggest surprises. We’re never quite sure when the next one will emerge.
But we’re here for them when they do.
