No. 9, 2013: Nadal and Djokovic led each other to a summit in staggering French Open semifinal

As 36-year-old Rafael Nadal ramps up for what may be his final swing through the clay courts of Europe, we look back at the 10 matches that made him the undisputed King of Clay.

• MATCH 1: 2003 Monte Carlo, second round: Nadal d. Costa, 7-5, 6-3
• MATCH 2:
• MATCH 3:
• MATCH 4: 2005 Roland Garros, semifinal: Nadal d. Federer, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
• MATCH 5:
• MATCH 6:
• MATCH 7:
• MATCH 8: 2012 Roland Garros, final: Nadal d. Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

MATCH 9: 2013 Roland Garros, semifinal: Nadal d. Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7

This one was for me.

“You need to love the game.” That’s what an exhausted, exhilarated Nadal said on June 7, 2013, when he was asked what it took to win a match like the one he had just played. On that hot day in Paris, it had taken every bit of love, and effort—and “suffering,” as Rafa likes to put it—that he could muster.

In the annals of the 18-year, 59-match tug-of-war between Nadal and Djokovic, their 2013 French Open semifinal might be called the Second Epic. It was the mirror image of their Australian Open final from the previous year. That see-saw saga in Melbourne lasted five hours and 53 minutes, and went to Djokovic, 7-5 in the fifth set. This see-saw saga lasted four hours and 37 minutes and went to Nadal, 9-7 in the fifth set. Each match featured merciless rallies, fine shot-making, peaks and valleys from both players, and one legendary, match-changing blunder. The tennis historian in Nadal saw the parallel right away.

“I lost a match like this in Australia,” he said. “This one was for me.”

The match was for Rafa, but it was for all tennis fans as well. Since Nadal took command of Roland Garros in 2005, there have been precious men’s epics in the later rounds at Roland Garros. Rafa, who otherwise has never been taken to five sets in a semifinal or a final there, has been too good to let anyone—other than Djokovic—get close. Back in 2006, when he was 19, the Serb claimed that Nadal was “beatable” at the French Open. This match was his fifth attempt to prove himself right, and the closest he would come until he finally knocked Rafa out of Roland Garros in 2015.

You know a match is a good one when neither player can fathom the shots that his opponent is pulling off. Nadal and Djokovic spent a fair amount of these four and a half hours shaking their heads and smiling in disbelief at their rival’s preposterous play. Nadal couldn’t believe Djokovic’s lunging, line-clipping returns, or his above-the-shoulder tomahawk forehand winners. As for Novak, he looked for help from his coaches whenever Rafa dug one more impossible get out of the clay, or hooked another forehand down the line on the dead run. Alas, there was no help for either player.

At the Australian Open in 2012, it was Nadal who survived a near-death experience in the fourth set, won it in a tiebreaker, and rode that momentum to a 4-2 lead in the fifth before watching Djokovic reverse the tide and walk away with the title. In Paris it was Djokovic who grabbed the fourth set in a tiebreaker, and led 4-2 in the fifth, before watching Nadal take it all away in the final 45 minutes.

Each time, the loser was haunted by a stunning misstep. In Australia, with a chance to go up 5-2 in the fifth, Nadal pushed the easiest of backhand passing shots into the alley. In Paris, serving at 4-3 in the final set, two games from victory and a chance at his first French title, Djokovic gave away a point at deuce when he ran into the net after hitting what would have been a winning overhead.

Despite that mistake, this match reached its dramatic peak over the last few games, as each man fought desperately to survive. Djokovic swung with everything he had, while Nadal sprinted farther than he ever had on the clay in Paris to track balls down. As they pushed each their way higher and higher into the tennis stratosphere, Rafa and Nole were like another pair of Parisian artists from another age. One hundred years earlier, Picasso and Braque had described themselves as “two mountain climbers, roped together,” scaling the heights of painting. Nadal and Djokovic were their tennis equivalent in 2013. At Roland Garros that year, they led each other to a summit.

Yet this wouldn’t be their final Grand Slam masterpiece. Five years later, in a two-day semifinal at Wimbledon, they would stage a Third Epic. This time Djokovic would stop Nadal’s late momentum and emerge the victor, 10-8 in the fifth. In truth, Djokovic has found a way to come out on top of most of these types of marathon tussles, with both Nadal and his other major rival, Roger Federer. It’s why he has a winning record against both of them, and why he’ll likely end up with more major titles than either. The exception has been Roland Garros. On this day in 2013, even the man who will likely be the GOAT couldn’t unseat the King of Clay.

Tomorrow: Throwback Rafa