Biggest Rivalry Ever!

Of course many tennis fans think that Nadal Federer is the "Biggest Rivalry Ever". Also from some of the upset expressed on this site about the draw offering the possability of a fourth Nadal Federer Wimbledon final some tennis fans are desperate for something different.

This is what the best player of 2011 (so far) thinks about the rivalry.

"I guess every time you expect the match between Federer and Nadal, it's always the biggest match that exists in tennis. I think they have a biggest rivalry from active players. Maybe the biggest rivalry ever. So it's just great to be part of the era with those two guys."

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/interviews/2011-06-19/201106191308489707605.html

Pretty sure that Djokovic would like to prevent a fourth Wimbledon final between these two players but impressive that he is still able to appreciate them.

I think Djokovic has matured a hell of a lot as a person in the last year or so and this has been a big factor in his results.

Maybe Murray would benefit from doing the same...?

"Biggest Rivalry Ever!" - hawkeye

-------------------------------

Try Evert and Navratilova, they played each other 80 times:-

http://www.wtatennis.com/headtohead/chris-evert_2255881_2188/0,,12781~2188~5744,00.html

eric

Great documentary on the Evert v Navratilova rivalry on last night (as part of the ESPN 30 for 30 series). I hadn't realised what good friends they were off court over most of their career (with the possible exception of when Martina was at her absolute peak - mostly because her coach was encouraging her to hate her opponents).

Although the H2H ended being nearly even (37-43), it was definitely a case of Evert dominating early (she led 12-2 for example) and then Martina getting the advantage including a streak of 14 wins in a row during 82-84.

The off court dynamic and the media profile also adds to this - the All American girl against the eastern European lesbian (even if she defected at 18) was certainly an angle that the US media played on.

Navratilova Evert was great! Contrast in styles, tough competitors also they appeared to like and respect each other.

Its funny I sort of remember womens tennis was criticised back then because they were such dominant rivals. Now womens tennis is criticised because there is a more even playing field...

Lendl v McEnroe for me.

Laver-Rosewall for me.

Edit: https://www.606v2.com/t7318-top-5-tennis-rivalries

Can't comment on Laver and Rosewall as it was before my time. The only thing detracting from Fed and Nadal is that it has been such a one sided rivalry and for my money I like a little bad blood in a rivalry and Fed and Nadal are just too in awe of each other. Still, they have produced probably a handful of the greatest matches in the history of tennis (miami 05, Rome 07, Wimby 07, Wimby 08, and AO 09). At this point though because of its one-sided nature with fed gently easing into the twilight of his career I really think today's best rivalry is Novak and Nadal. Also I really like the bad blood that exists between Novak and Roger as well, it makes the rivalry every little bit the sweeter.