'He has been the best rival that I ever had...' - Novak Djokovic owes growth of his career to his 'greatest rival' Rafael Nadal

The defending champion, Novak Djokovic, thrashed Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets to advance to the French Open 2024 third round for the 19th time in a row. Notably, the Serbian defeated the Spaniard by 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in looking for a record 25th Grand Slam victory. However, the 37-year-old was spotted praising tennis legend Rafael Nadal after his early exit from Roland Garros. The Spaniard suffered a defeat against Alexander Zverev in the first round of the marquee event.

Meanwhile, the Serbian revealed that Rafael Nadal has been his biggest rival, and he has to do something extraordinary to win the title against the 14-time French Open winner. Djokovic accepted that the matches against Nadal have always been very frustrating for him, and it has made him annoyed the most.

"Winning Roland Garros is the highest mountain to climb for me because I always had to win against him to get the title. l've said it many times. He has been the greatest rival that I ever had. Matches against him on clay have frustrated me so much in my career (smiling), but they also made me a better player, made me understand what it takes, you know, really, to try to surpass him, try to win at least once or twice on Roland Garros," Novak Djokovic said.

I always have to win against him in order to get to the title: Novak Djokovic

The legendary player feels that one has to first reach the epitome of the level to win the Roland Garros. Novak also opened up about the great journey he had at the  French Open 2024, with some convincing matches against Nadal.

"I said it on the court the other day. It's the highest mountain to climb, really, always for me to win Roland Garros, particularly because of Nadal, because I always have to win against him in order to get to the title. So, yeah, we had some really fantastic matches here," he added further.