They have seen it all together over the span of 15 years of rivalry on the court. Rafael Nadal‘s relationship with his long-time rival, Roger Federer has been in the news ever since the Spaniard’s shocking admission of not considering the Swiss Maestro as his friend a few weeks ago. However, recently the 37YO Spaniard poured the highest level of praise for the Swiss Maestro.
Rafael Nadal attended a press conference ahead of his match against his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz at the Netflix Slam in Las Vegas. During the press conference, he spoke about how emotional he was with the announcement of Federer’s retirement in 2022.
“Never pushed me to any retirement” – Rafael Nadal reflects on the impact of Roger Federer’s retirement decision on his own career
Having played together for such a long period, both of them developed a relationship and fondness for one another. In fact, the Spaniard was among the first people outside Roger Federer’s family and team to learn about his retirement. Rafael Nadal said after hearing that he got a bit emotional as he felt an “important part” of his “professional life left.”
Nadal further went on to add, “First of all [I was] emotional because probably the most elegant player that I ever seen left the tour. Second, as I said before, a part of my life left with him.” However, he didn’t forget to mention, “But that thought never pushed me to any retirement.”
There have been several moments when these two tennis legends showcased their camaraderie publicly. During the 2010 US Open, Rafael Nadal called Roger Federer to be an example of all the good things and openly admitted that he tries to copy it. “I think is talk about if I am better or worse than Roger is stupid. Because the titles say he’s much better than me, so that’s the truth at that moment,” Nadal.
In 2013, the Swiss returned the favors during the Indian Wells. Roger Federer who was then the defending champion and Rafael Nadal was making a comeback after a gap of almost 7 months, spoke highly of the Spaniard. He stated, “I think of him as the great champion he is. And I expect him to win 99% of the matches he plays.” Last year, Roger Federer shed light on his relationship with Rafael Nadal. What did he say?
“He was in awe of me” – Roger Federer on Nadal
Roger Federer spoke about how they started to respect their rivalry during an event last year. He admitted he misses playing each other every weekend and called Rafael Nadal to be a “Great man.” Last year, Nadal was out for most of the season due to his hip injury. Federer wished him a quick recovery and hoped to see him back soon on the court.
Federer added, “I’m five years older than Rafa. So when I came on tour I saw young, junior Rafa come through and he was extremely good, very young.” He spoke about how respectful and shy Nadal was in his initial days.
“He was very in awe of me and everything I wanted to do with the tour. And my ideas, he was like: ‘You’re right’,” Federer. The Swiss revealed how their on-court bonding slowly spread to having a good relationship between the two families. Share which one is your memorable moment from their epic rivalry on the court.
