August 7, 2010 – If there was ever a powerful combination, it would be the current doubles tandem of No. 1 ranked Rafael Nadal and No.2 ranked Novak Djokovic at the tournament to be held next week in Toronto.
According to ATP, the tandem is the first time the men who are ranked at the top two spots have paired up for a tournament since 1976 when No. 1 ranked Jimmy Connors paired up with No. 2 Arthur Ashe.
Djokovic and Nadal’s publicist, Benito Perez-Barbadillo, said that the pair had previously discussed the possibility of pairing up last season. However, Nadal had some physical problems such as the stomach muscle problem, so the previous plans had to be shelved.
Recently, however, Djokovic brought up the idea of pairing up with Nadal.
According to Perez-Barbadillo, “Novak called Rafa a couple of weeks ago and reminded him… Rafa liked the idea again and here they are.”
Recently, Nadal returned to the No. 1 spot at the ATP singles, nudging Roger Federer from the spot after he won his fifth French Open championship title. When Federer lost at the Wimbledon quarterfinals, he slid down to third place, boosting Djokovic up to the No. 2 spot instead.
Currently, Nadal has eight Grand Slam titles in singles, while Djokovic has one.