Djokovic and Nadal 'not always friendly'

Rafael Nadal's uncle and long-time coach Toni Nadal has revealed his nephew and Novak Djokovic weren't always on the friendliest of terms.

Nadal and Djokovic have been at the height of men's tennis for the best part of a decade, and always seem to be good friends too.

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But according to Toni, they didn't always see eye-to-eye.

"They are close in terms of age, have been at the top on the Tour for much time," Toni said recently.

"This rivalry has been beautiful since the beginning, because on court it was hard, as both of them gave their best to win, while off-court they are friends.

"At first it wasn't like this, then they grew up."

Toni also admitted he thought Nadal's rivalry with Djokovic pushed Rafa further in his career than his famous rivalry with Roger Federer.

"With Federer it was always something particular, because it was Nadal's first big rivalry.

"With Djokovic it was tougher sometimes, when at the top of the rankings there were the strongest players: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray. I like to see them at the top again."

Rafa has surged up the ATP rankings in 2017 and currently sits at No.2, but that could soon change if he wins Wimbledon.

But Toni says the No.1 ranking is the last thing on his nephew's mind.

"At the moment he doesn't care about becoming No. 1, he wants to win titles, titles and titles.

"That's our priority right now."

In what shapes as an epic second week of the 131st Wimbledon, the so-called Big Four are among a record seven 30-somethings through to the fourth round.

Between them, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray have won the past 14 Wimbledon titles since Lleyton Hewitt landed the sport's greatest prize in 2002 -- and are again heavily favoured to extend their remarkable dominance to a decade and a half.

with AAP

The two televised feature matches exclusively live from 8:30pm (AEST) on 7TWO, PLUS7 and the 7Tennis App tonight are:
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Andy Murray (GBR) v Benoit Paire (FRA)
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Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) v Roger Federer (SUI)