Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer enjoyed a rivalry that spanned a couple of decades, with their battles etched into tennis folklore as some of the greatest the sport has ever witnessed.
Federer’s dominance at the top of men’s tennis began when he won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003 and he was an invincible winning machine until Spanish superstar Nadal emerged as his biggest rival.
Nadal consistently beat Federer in the early years of their rivalry, with his brilliance on clay courts proving to be too much for the Swiss maestro to deal with.
The roles were reversed at the back end of their careers, as Federer devoted much of his attention to reshaping his game to repel the threats Nadal was throwing at him.
The end result was a story that saw Federer winning six of their last seven matches, including a memorable clash in the 2017 Australian Open and what proved to be their last meeting in the 2019 Wimbledon semi-finals.
Nadal was asked by former world No 1 Andy Roddick to sum up what version of Federer was the best and it was intriguing to see him select the latter stages of his career.
“When he was playing well, he beat me. Then when I was playing well, I beat him, especially on clay. On hard, it was always much more difficult for me,” said Nadal on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
“Then at the end of his career, he made a step forward and he was playing much, much more aggressive.
“For me, 2017 was the best level of his career. You felt that you were in his hands.
“He played very, very aggressive and his serve was so hard to read. For me, it was very difficult to predict what was going on.”
Nadal went on to suggest the respect he had for Federer and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic ensured their rivalry was not converted into animosity off the court.
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While he appeared to have a closer bond with Federer than Djokovic during his career, he hopes a positive example they set with the respect they showed each other.
“We, as rivals, we showed the world that we can be the biggest rivals, but at the same time we can be colleagues,” he added of his battles with Federer and Djokovic.
“I don’t say best friends, but we can have a good personal relationship and I think that shows a positive example to the next generations. I am proud of that.
“In some way, we had a wild rivalry with Roger, Novak and myself, but at the same time didn’t lose the perspective that we were human persons.
“We don’t fight against each other, we respect each other. This helps to show the new generations that you don’t have to hate your opponents. You can respect, you can appreciate your opponent.
“At the end of the day, they are an important part of your life. You don’t need to hate your opponents to give your best. That’s what we showed the world.”
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