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Novak: Mental Edge over Roger, Rafa

NEW YORK—Novak Djokovic has gained a mental edge over arch-rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal the old-fashioned way.

By beating them.

More: Djokovic Drives Into 11th US Open Quarterfinal

Though 20-time Grand Slam king Federer and 17-time major winner Nadal are widely regarded as the greatest players of all time, Djokovic asserts he has the mental edge because he's been better than the best.

The Wimbledon champion owns a 27-25 career record over Nadal in the most prolific rivalry in ATP history and possesses a 24-22 advantage over Federer, including sweeping the seven-time champion in the Cincinnati final last month to make history as the first man to collect all nine Masters 1000 championships.

"I managed to win some big matches against them in the last couple of years, but also lost some. There's no particular rule, so to say, of direction or trajectory of the rivalry," Djokovic said. "We've witnessed, you know, throughout our rivalries that it's almost 10, 15 years, there are periods and intervals, so to say, where I win couple matches in a row, then they win couple matches in a row. It just goes in swings, I guess, a little bit."

The 31-year-old Djokovic has won seven of his last nine meetings with Federer.

The pair could face off in the US Open quarterfinals if five-time champion Federer beats Australian John Millman tonight. 

Federer would face off against Djokovic for a record-extending 16th major match-up with the Wimbledon winner holding a 9-6 edge over the 37-year-old Swiss, which Djokovic says infuses him with the mental edge.

"But once you win more than a match against your top rival, you start to feel like you have maybe a little bit of a mental advantage," Djokovic said. "It just depends, again, on how you feel playing against them, which kind of surface it is, what part of the year, so forth. Many different, so to say, elements that play a role in these particular matches, and very few points really. Very few details decide winner of those matches."

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