Great sporting rivals often struggle to develop a friendship away from the heat of battle, but Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are continuing to show mutual respect for each other after their tennis battles came to an end.
Federer and Nadal won a stunning 42 Grand Slam titles between them and that total may have been higher for both if they were operating in a different era of the sport.
Initially, Federer was not welcoming of the young upstart threatening his dominance at the top of the men’s game, but the duo have since developed a strong bond and that was confirmed as the Swiss star visited the Spaniard’s Rafael Nadal Academy base.
Images of Federer and Nadal spending time together warmed the hearts of fans of the duo who were eventually overtaken by Novak Djokovic in the race to finish their careers with the most Grand Slam titles.
The duo tagged ‘Fedal’ by their fans clearly have a good relationship and Nadal spoke about how that developed as he took part in Federer’s farewell event at the Laver Cup in 2022.
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Rafael Nadal’s surprising comments about his ‘friendship’ with Roger Federer
“Roger was always there in front of me,” reflected Nadal.
“For me, he was always the guy to beat. So at some point, we were probably the biggest rivals – I think always in a very good way.
“We have never had any big issues and always respected each other and our families as well.
“But our personal relationship has got better and better over the years, and we approach life in a similar way.
“On court, we have completely opposite styles, and that’s what probably makes our matches and our rivalry so big and interesting.
“I’m very proud to be part of his career in some way, but even happier to finish our career [rivalry] like friends after everything we shared on court as rivals.”
An unforgettable day with @RafaelNadal & @rogerfederer at the @rnadalacademy! pic.twitter.com/Ko8yGW5sSX
— Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar (@rnadalacademy) July 18, 2025
Nadal later went on to clarify his comments, as he insisted he would not describe his cordial relationship with Federer as a friendship.
“I wouldn’t consider him a friend, but someone familiar, with whom I have a great relationship,” Nadal stated.
“We have shared most of our careers. We have helped each other.
“We have also taken away a lot. We have achieved a level of self-demand that is difficult to repeat because we knew that we could not fail. That competition pushed us to the limit.”
Whether Nadal considers Federer to be a friend or an acquaintance, it is clear that they enjoy spending time together and we do not see occasions like this with Federer or Nadal visiting Djokovic, who has always been viewed as something of an outsider in this story.
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The post Roger Federer cements friendship with Rafael Nadal after reunion in Spain appeared first on Tennis365.
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