10 things to know about the upcoming clash between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros

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Individually, they’re two of greatest tennis players of all time—but together they’ve produced one of the greatest rivalries of all time, too, one that actually began at Roland Garros almost exactly 16 years ago.

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will meet in an absolute blockbuster of a quarterfinal in Paris on Tuesday—here are 10 things to know about the match-up everyone was talking about when the draw came out 10 days ago:

It’ll be their 59th career meeting, which is the most tour-level meetings between two men in the Open Era. The next-most is 50, between Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Djokovic leads the overall head-to-head, 30-28. They’ve met at least once a year every year for the last 17 years, since their first career meeting in the 2006 Roland Garros quarterfinals. Nadal won that one, then went on to win the title, too.

It’s their 10th meeting at Roland Garros, the most meetings between two men at Roland Garros in the Open Era. The next most is six, between Nadal and Federer.

Nadal leads at Roland Garros, 7-2. The Spaniard also leads 2-1 at the US Open—meanwhile, Djokovic leads 2-0 at the Australian Open and 2-1 at Wimbledon.

Djokovic has won 2 of their last 3 meetings at Roland Garros, though. In their last three meetings at this event, Djokovic won in the 2015 quarterfinals (7-5, 6-3, 6-1), Nadal won in the 2020 final (6-0, 6-2, 7-5) and Djokovic won in the 2021 semifinals, which is actually the last time they played anywhere (3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2).

Djokovic is also the only man ever to beat Nadal twice at Roland Garros, and the only man ever to beat him there in straight sets. Nadal’s only other loss in his ridiculous 109-3 career record at the French Open came to Sweden's Robin Soderling in four sets in the fourth round in 2009, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Nadal leads on clay, 19-8. This one started as 9-0, though—Nadal is 10-8 against Djokovic on clay since the start of 2011, which was the year the Serb swept three of the four majors and first rose to No. 1 on the ATP rankings.

Nadal has a record 22 career wins over No. 1s. It’s the most in either ATP or WTA rankings history, and potentially a good omen for the Spaniard as he takes on the No. 1-ranked Djokovic. Boris Becker, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams have the next-most career wins over No. 1s with 19, 18 and 17, respectively.

It’s their 18th meeting at a Grand Slam, a new record for most Grand Slam meetings between two men in the Open Era. They had been tied with Djokovic and Federer at 17.

The winner of the first set has won 50 of their 58 previous meetings, and 13 of their 17 previous meetings at majors. Maybe something to keep an eye on this Tuesday…