Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic land on opposite halves of Australian Open draw

One of the big questions in the tennisphere going into the Australian Open has been whether Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic would be in the same half of the draw.

Well, the draw is out, and the answer is no—the No. 1-seeded Nadal is at the very top of the draw, of course, while Djokovic, the No. 4 seed, is in the bottom half. So, they can’t meet until the final.

But no matter where the two ATP legends fell in the draw, if history is anything to go by, chances are that one of them will be lifting the title in Melbourne at the end of the two weeks.

This is the 60th time Nadal and Djokovic are both in the draw at a Grand Slam, and in the previous 59 instances, one of them has gone on to capture the title 39 times (66%) and at least one of them has made it through to the final 47 times (80%).

And recent history is more daunting for the rest of the field: the last 13 times Nadal and Djokovic have both been in the draw at a Grand Slam, one of them has gone on to win the title.

LAST 13 TIMES RAFA AND NOLE WERE BOTH IN THE DRAW AT A MAJOR:
2022 Wimbledon: Djokovic won title (Nadal: SFs)
2022 Roland Garros: Nadal won title (Djokovic: QFs)
2021 Roland Garros: Djokovic won title (Nadal: SFs)
2021 Australian Open: Djokovic won title (Nadal: QFs)
2020 French Open: Nadal won title (Djokovic: R-Up)
2020 Australian Open: Djokovic won title (Nadal: QFs)
2019 US Open: Nadal won title (Djokovic: 4th Rd)
2019 Wimbledon: Djokovic won title (Nadal: SFs)
2019 Roland Garros: Nadal won title (Djokovic: SFs)
2019 Australian Open: Djokovic won title (Nadal: R-Up)
2018 US Open: Djokovic won title (Nadal: SFs)
2018 Wimbledon: Djokovic won title (Nadal: SFs)
2018 Roland Garros: Nadal won title (Djokovic: QFs)

The last time both the Spaniard and the Serb were in the draw at a Grand Slam and neither one of them went on to win the title was the 2018 Australian Open, where Roger Federer won the title.

Neither Nadal nor Djokovic has an easy road in Melbourne, though.

Nadal kicks off against No. 40-ranked Jack Draper, who was just five spots out of the seeds. The 21-year-old British lefty has recorded the first two Top 10 wins of his career over the last six months, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Masters 1000 event in Canada and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open.

The Spaniard’s projected seeded opponents would be No. 31 seed Yoshihito Nishioka in the third round, No. 16 seed Frances Tiafoe (who beat him at the US Open) in the fourth round, No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarters and No. 3 seed Tsitsipas in the semis.

Djokovic opens against No. 75-ranked Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena, with No. 27 seed Grigor Dimitrov lurking in the third round, No. 14 seed Pablo Carreno Busta fourth round, No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev in the quarters and No. 2 seed Casper Ruud in the semis.

The two have played each other in Grand Slam finals nine times before—will they make it 10 in Melbourne this year?