Djokovic–Federer rivalry
The first time they met at a major was in the fourth round of the 2007 Australian Open, where Federer won in straight sets.
[7] The next year, they met in a rematch at the 2008 Australian Open semifinals, where Djokovic won in straight sets to reach his second Grand Slam final.
Djokovic, however, broke Federer in the eighth game of the fourth set and then held to win the match and move on to the final.
With the win, Djokovic advanced to his first French Open final,[21] where, like Federer the previous year, he lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets.
He closed out the match in the tenth game by breaking Djokovic's serve to win the contest in straight sets.
Federer and Djokovic have also met twenty times in ATP Masters tournaments, with fourteen of the meetings taking place on hardcourt and six on clay.
Federer and Djokovic have met in every Masters event on hard court: Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal, Toronto, Cincinnati, Shanghai, and Paris.
[56] They next met again in the Paris Masters semifinals in 2013 where Djokovic beat Federer en route to winning the title over David Ferrer.
[59] Later in the year Federer played a flawless match against Djokovic in the Shanghai semifinals and beat him in straight sets.
Later that year, they played their longest best-of-three match in the semi-finals of Paris Masters lasting 3 hours and 2 minutes, with Djokovic prevailing in three sets decided with a 7–3 third-set tiebreak.
They were scheduled to meet in the final but Federer was forced to withdraw due to a back injury after he had won a grueling semifinal against Stan Wawrinka.
With the win, Federer advanced to the semi-finals where he lost the eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas while Djokovic was knocked out of the tournament.
[73] In the semifinals of the 2020 Australian Open, the duo played each other for the last time, Djokovic defeated Federer in straight sets.
[78] Five months later they met in the semifinals of the 2008 Australian Open, where Djokovic defeated Federer in straight sets[8] and went on to win the first major of his career when he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.
"[79] The loss ended Federer's streak of ten straight appearances in major finals which began at Wimbledon in 2005.
[80] It was also Federer's first straight sets loss in any Grand Slam since Gustavo Kuerten beat him in the third round of the 2004 French Open.
On the other hand, Federer had natural movement on grass and was able to find success on the surface early in his career unlike Djokovic.
[84] On the other hand, Djokovic's quest to win Roland Garros was his main priority for several years,[85][86] often leaving him exhausted to partake in a warm-up tournament on grass.
Over the years, Federer and Djokovic have more often than not advanced deep into the important clay tournaments only to lose to Rafael Nadal.
[94] At the French Open, Nadal defeated Djokovic and Federer back-to-back in the semifinals[95] and final to win his third straight title at Roland Garros.
[96] In 2008, Federer played a solid match against Nadal at Monte Carlo before Djokovic emerged as a force on clay as well.
[102] At the 2009 French Open Federer won the title against Robin Söderling, completing the career Grand Slam.
[104] At the French Open, both Federer and Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals and thus neither man advanced to face Nadal that year.
Djokovic was a legitimate contender going into the 2011 French Open and was perceived by many tennis analysts as capable of dethroning Nadal.
The 2013 French Open semifinal is considered to be Djokovic's most devastating career loss, losing 9–7 in the fifth despite being up a break in the final set (when he ran into the net to get broken).
[114] From 2005 to 2014, Federer's final in 2011[17] and Djokovic's semifinal in 2013 were the best efforts that each man had been able to give in their attempts to beat Nadal at Roland Garros.
Djokovic then entered the French Open undefeated on clay for the season after winning back-to-back titles in Monte Carlo and Rome.
[117] Djokovic managed to win the French Open the next year by beating Andy Murray in four sets, completing a non-calendar and a career Grand Slam.
In 2021, Djokovic managed to beat Nadal again at Roland Garros and went on to win his second French Open title against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
[118] Two years later, he claimed his third trophy at Roland Garros after beating Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud en route to the title, becoming the only player in history to complete a triple Career Grand Slam.
