Privileged are those sports fans who witnessed the prime rivalry of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the two greatest male tennis players of all time. Between them, they won 42 titles, 20 of them for Federer and 22 for the Spaniard, but what made their rivalry so beautiful was the bond between these two individuals. 

If ever there was a question about how much they respected each other, it ended with the Laver Cup doubles game where the duo competed together in Federer’s last match. Nadal and Federer both were seen in tears after the match while holding hands, in what turned out to be one of the greatest-ever picture taken in sporting history.

Such was the beauty of their friendship-cum-rivalry, which continues to bother Rafael Nadal as Federer is no longer around to play the sport professionally. There have been several ongoing talks about the injury concerns for Nadal and how he could soon hang up his boots as well. However, Nadal doesn’t want to talk about it as yet. 

“It is that I do not visualise it (his retirement),” said Nadal. “Roger’s retirement was a sad and exciting day at the same time. So I don’t know if I’m ready to quit tennis as yet.”

Nadal also called their rivalry one of the greatest in sporting history, comparing it with some other legendary individual duels across multiple sports, including another equally popular one in the current generation – Messi vs Ronaldo. 

“I think he is one of the great icons in the history of sport in general, so it was a hard moment, and not only as a rival and partner but as a tennis lover. It is that the same thing happened with Pau (Gasol) or Zidane and it will happen to me with [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano [Ronaldo].

“They’re people you’ve grown up with for a lifetime, sharing moments and watching them on TV, making them almost like family. And when they retire, like Roger did, you know you’re never going to see them play again,” Nadal added. 

Rafael Nadal is expected to arrive Down Under to defend his Australian Open crown, which he won by defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final last year.