For the past years, two names dominated the world of tennis – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Federer had always been World No. 1 and Nadal always tailed behind him as World No. 2. What made their rivalry intriguing is other than the fact that they have been rivals for 4 years, both have also met each other in court for more or less 20 times already and despite Nadal winning most of these, Federer still remained on the top. However, Nadal, after years of waiting to out best Federer, became World No. 1 in August 18, 2008 when Federer lost in both the Canada and Cincinatti Masters.

The new order in tennis has brought about a lot of speculations about the new possibilities for the Federer-Nadal rivalry, which is said to be the greatest tennis rivalry of all time. One of these is the likelihood of World No. 3 Novak Djokovic coming into the picture to change things in the Federer-Nadal Rivalry. But does Djokovic have what it takes to change tennis history?

In 2007, Djokovic broke tennis records since Boris Becker did in 1994 for being the first tennis player to defeat all top three players in just one tournament. This happened during the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Montreal, where Djokovic came out as champion, beating then World No. 3 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, then World No. 2 during the semifinals and then World No. 1 Federer during the finals. His defeat of Federer and Nadal, made him the second player to have even beaten Federer and Nadal since they occupied the two top spots. As a matter of fact, Nadal becoming World No. 1 also came out as a surprise because he was one match slipping to World No. 3 when he nearly lost to Djokovic during the Masters Series semifinals.

2008 is the year when Djokovic first won a Grand Slam title – the Australian Open. He defeated defending winner Federer in the semifinals and since 2004, became the first tennis player to beat Federer in straight sets. He became the first Serbian and among one of the youngest Australian Open champions. This season, although Federer and Nadal defeated Djokovic en route to their titles, he gave them though some moments of worrying – Nadal during the Beijing Olympics semi-finals and Federer in the US Open semifinals.

Djokovic is a good contender to threaten the Federer-Nadal rivalry because he is all-court player being consistent in all types of court and he has no known weakness. He also has good service, which is a source of his many free points. He has a fierce backhand, a dominant groundstroke, a well-disguised strong forehand and he can hit with a strong topspin.
Whatever is next to come for the Federer-Nadal rivalry, it is something which the world await for. All eyes are on Djokovic right now. He is only 21 and there is more room for improvement for him. But does it have what it takes to take down the Federer and Nadal dominance? Now, that is something all fans will be all eyes on.