​At the Ballon d’Or gala in 2023, Novak Djokovic attracted attention in several ways. The ATP leader opened up about the joke of the day when he was not recognized before discussing football, but also admitted that he is “not friends with Rafael Nadal”.

Novak DjokovicPhoto: Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic / Bestimage / Profimedia

Nole has been at the center of sports news in recent days, even though he has yet to win an ATP tournament.

He was first at Parc des Princes for the Rugby World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand (12-11 to the Springboks) and on Monday night for the 2023 Ballon d’Or.

In his speech, Joker touched on several areas: from the future of football to his long-standing rivalry with Rafael Nadal.

In an intervention on “C à vous”, Djokovic (36 years old) admitted that he is not friends with Rafael Nadal (37 years old), that their relationship is built on respect and that he wants to end their relationship after their careers. for a drink on the beach.

“I can’t say that we are friends, but we respect each other. Personally, I hope that after our careers are over, we can go for drinks on the beach and talk about life with less stress and expectations.

Beating Rafa at Roland Garros is the biggest challenge in tennis, it’s his home. My record against him is not very good (two wins and 8 losses), but I have had many great and historic matches.

He is a very special player for me, for my entire career and for my development as a player,” Novak Djokovic told the quoted source.

The rivalry between Nole and Rafa is a long-standing one, and it all started at Roland Garros in 2006.

Since then, the Serb and the Spaniard have met on the ATP circuit 59 times (an Open Era record), with the score 30-29 in favor of the Joker.

The main records of Novak Djokovic

Born May 22, 1986 in Belgrade, Djokovic currently holds many tennis records, but the most important are the following three: most Grand Slam titles, most Masters (ATP 1000) and most weeks out of the ATP leaderboard.

Ranking of Grand Slam titles

1 Novak Djokovic 24

2 Rafael Nadal 22

3 Roger Federer 20 (retired)

Ranking of Masters tournaments

1 Novak Djokovic 39

2 Rafael Nadal 36

3 Roger Federer 28 (retired)

Weeks under #1 ATP

1 Novak Djokovic 397

2 Roger Federer 301

3 Pete Sampras 286 etc.