Novak Djokovic has always been known as the third guy who broke the dominance of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the sport. However, it was not an easy path for the Serb, who struggled against two of his closest competitors in the early stages of his career, which forced him to a tearful breakdown after a loss at the 2010 French Open.

“In 2010, I lost in the quarters of the French Open. I went to my coach’s hotel room and I broke down in tears,” said Djokovic in his documentary, Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter. “I said I don’t know if I have what it takes. I dreamed and planned to win multiple Slams but I could not solve the riddle of Federer and Nadal on the big stage. I was just losing to these guys most of the matches we played.”

Through the end of the 2010 season, Djokovic had a 6-13 win-loss record against Federer and a 7-16 record against Nadal. Even though the Serb had scored a few victories over the Swiss in a couple of finals and had beaten him in two Grand Slam semifinals by then, he was not able to beat the Spaniard in any finals that they played, and even Federer had his number most of the time.

Djokovic was far behind in the Slam race compared to the other two players, as the Serb had only one Major to show at that time, whereas Federer and Nadal already had sixteen and nine Majors to their name. However, the 2010 emotional breakdown was a turning point for the Serb, who made a holistic change to his training methods, tweaked his diet, and worked on improving his stamina, something which was a considerable chink in his armor at that time.

The changes worked as Djokovic won forty-one matches in a row to start his 2011 season. His training changes and the tactical adjustments he made in his game style helped him fare better in longer matches, something which saw him win seven consecutive finals against Nadal, even on clay. He even beat Federer three out of four times that they played in 2011, winning the US Open semifinal clash while saving two match points.

After the shift in results in 2011, Djokovic could compete with the likes of Federer and Nadal even on their best surfaces, and ended by leading both head-to-heads by the end of his career.

Novak Djokovic Ended With Winning Records Against Both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Even though he struggled against the duo of Federer and Nadal, Djokovic had a winning record against both his iconic rivals by the time they retired from the sport. In his first twenty matches against each of them, he had won six matches against the Spaniard and seven against the Swiss.

However, as the Serb reached his peak, he started to narrow the gap with both, having squared the head-to-head at 20 apiece with Federer by the time they played their 40th match, and was 18-22 behind Nadal in their head-to-head rivalry at a similar stage.

Djokovic had an 11-6 record against Federer at Slams, beating the Swiss in three Wimbledon finals, a venue where Federer dominated in his career. He had a 7-11 record against Nadal at Slams, mostly due to the Spaniard’s unbelievable record at the French Open, where he won eight of his ten matches against the Serb. However, Djokovic remains the only player to beat Nadal twice at Roland Garros and score nine clay-court victories against the Spaniard, something which even Federer could not achieve.

By the time Federer and Nadal retired, both of them were behind on the head-to-heads against Djokovic, with the Serb finishing with a 27-23 record against the Swiss and a 31-29 record against the Spaniard.