Rafael Nadal - 38 years old, and Novak Djokovic - 37 years old, have been able to accept the fact that it is time to step back into the background, giving way to the younger generation.
Nadal lost to Carlos Alcaraz - 21 years old, and Djokovic lost to Jannik Sinner - 23 years old (for the second time in less than 1 week) in the semi-finals of the Six Kings Slam event as proof.
In fact, Nadal has already decided when he will hang up his racket (after the Davis Cup finals). Meanwhile, Djokovic will continue to compete - at least until the end of 2025, but perhaps, he will only strive to find some title to mark his collection at 100 rather than trying to compete with younger opponents or to snatch the top spot on the ATP rankings.
And now, Nadal and Djokovic will play each other one last time, in their professional careers, on the evening of October 19 (Vietnam time).
Usually when Nadal and Djokovic meet, it is in the final or semi-finals of tournaments. But recently, when Nadal has fallen deep in the rankings, they clashed in the second round at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It was a rare occurrence. And to mark the specialness of this duo's rivalry, their final meeting was in the Third Place match - the first and surely only time.
Although the Open Era also had Roger Federer in the Big Three, the former Swiss player, in his gentlemanly style, did not create a thorny rivalry with his two opponents. Therefore, Nadal and Djokovic are considered by many experts, coaches and even other players to be the greatest rivalry in tennis history.
They have met at least once a year, from 2006 to 2022. This will be the second time in 2024.
With such rivalry, the head-to-head score difference is also very small.
Before today's match, Rafa and Nole had faced each other 60 times, with 31 wins for the Serbian and 29 for the Spanish "gladiator".
Those 60 matches included finals at all four Grand Slams. Djokovic leads 15-13 in finals at all levels, while Nadal leads 11-7 in majors, including 5-4 in major finals.
Nadal leads 8-2 at the French Open and 2-1 at the US Open, while Djokovic leads 2-0 at the Australian Open and 2-1 at Wimbledon.
Djokovic is the only player to beat Nadal in all four Grand Slams. He also leads in five-set matches (2-1).
Of the 60 meetings, 27 have been on hard courts, with Djokovic leading 20-7. Nadal has clearly dominated on clay, 20-9. In the four matches on grass, the score has been tied 2-2.
At the moment, Djokovic is slightly more physically fit, but with the final rock-ballad in Saudi Arabia, Nadal - and the fans too - did not want the match to end after just 2 sets.
After the third-place match, Sinner and Alcaraz will face off in the final. 2024 is Sinner's year, as he has seven titles and is certain to end the year as world number one.
However, Alcaraz remains something of a barrier that poses a challenge for the Italian. They have met 10 times since their first meeting in 2021, with Alcaraz leading 6-4.
In 2024, Sinner may be world number 1 but he lost all 3 matches against Alcaraz. And when he lost on outdoor hard courts and clay courts, will indoor hard courts make a difference?
The winner will take home $6 million in prize money.
