Rivalry Between Djokovic And Nadal Likely To Get Stronger

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 12th November 2013

Rivalry Between Djokovic And Nadal Likely To Get Stronger

epa03945985 Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during the final of the men's singles of the Barclays ATP World Tour tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 11 November 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

The rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is already the most prolific in the sport of tennis and now it also tops the list as the most financially rewarding. Subsequently the pair is likely to have minimal rest as the official 2013 seasons comes to a close.

Djokovic of course still has next weekend’s Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic in Belgrade before his competitive year comes to a close. Nadal meanwhile heads to billionaire Richard Branson’s Necker Island in the Caribbean for the world’s most exclusive pro-am tennis event.

Nadal heads a list of tennis ‘names’ including the retired but current Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, and former legends Martina Navratilova and Stefan Edberg. The Spaniard will donate all his earnings to his charitable foundation.

Thereafter Djokovic and Nadal will link up to play exhibition events in Chile and Argentina. Then just after Christmas the pair will reconvene in Abu Dhabi for the season opening Mubadala World Tennis Championships, starting December 26. “I actually see Rafa more than my mum,” joked Djokovic after beating the Spaniard to claim the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals title for the third time.

More seriously he admitted: “We push each other to the limits and make each other better players. Rafa has made himself a more complete player.

“I needed to understand what I had to do to win against him. This is the second-best sequence of my career and I have regrouped, worked harder and become a more skillful player.”

Nadal is clearly beginning to wonder whether he will need more rest during the off-season after winning ten titles during the course of the year. He said: “I know I am going to arrive to Abu Dhabi and Doha (for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open) in probably not the best physical and tennis condition

“It’s going to be very short, the period of time I am going to have the chance to work. In South America, I am going to combine the matches with a little bit of tourism.

“Then I will go back to Spain around November 26. I’m going to do a checking of especially the knee. Am probably going to do a little bit of recovery on the knee and try to have the chance to work hard for 15 days in December, no more.”

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Marion Bartoli, Martina Navratilova, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Sports, Stefan Edberg, Tennis, Tennis News

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yvessimonsevy says:

November 12, 2013 at 7:43 am

RT @10sBalls_com: Rivalry Between Djokovic And Nadal Likely To Get Stronger: The rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Rafa… http://t.co/rtu…