Precious Roy wrote:
Nadal won 14 French Open titles. Djokovic has 3.
Nadal's body has broken down and he is no longer able to play at his top level. Nadal's injuries have come mostly due to his style of playing. Nadal has a lot more tension in his swing with a tighter whipping action to max out racket head speed. Djokovic uses a longer swing and his strong core and legs to create racket head speed with less strain on his joints. Nadal was also dominant because he was such a good defender and was able to run, dive and slide for points that would have been winners against any other player. Djokovic is better at dictating points and grinds down opponents with long rallies where Novak is not really moving much. So, Nadal's style of play allowed him to dominate on clay, but broke him down physically. Novak's style of play was a benefit on fast surfaces, but left him to play second fiddle to Nadal on clay. But Novak's style of play lent itself well to longevity.
What you should also acknowledge is that Nadal matured earlier and his h2h was far ahead of Djokovic till Djokovic went "gluten-free" in 2011. From then it began to change and Djokovic began to regularly beat Nadal on all surfaces - with the exception of Roland Garros. Djokovic showed later in his career that his game could beat Nadal at Roland Garros. His defeating him in the semifinal in 2022, before going on to win the title, was a convincing display of his growing superiority over Nadal on Nadal's best surface.
You are correct though that Djokovic has outlasted Nadal, and their respective styles of play have contributed to that. However what you haven't taken into account is that both these players will be as doped as any have been in the sport, and it has enabled them to play their "attrition" tennis well into their late thirties. They are the tennis equivalent of TDF cyclists.
