Pause, rewind, play: The beginning of the legendary Nadal-Djokovic rivalry
In 2006, second seed Nadal was the defending champion and Djokovic, world number one now, was a brash 19-year-old ranked at 63.
AFP
It is perhaps fair to say that great rivalries can define particular eras of the sport. We remember Sharjah because of India vs Pakistan; we remember tennis in the early 1980s thanks to McEnroe and Borg. We remember how the Celtics vs Lakers rivalry was a godsend for the NBA. We remember by Navratilova and Evert made it almost impossible for anyone else to win a Grand Slam in women’s tennis. And of course, we all remember Federer vs Nadal.