By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday November 19, 2024
Roger Federer is among the many thousands and thousands of tennis followers protecting an in depth eye on Rafael Nadal’s last skilled occasion this week. The Swiss took to X to pay tribute to the King of Clay, recalling the 20-year journey they took collectively and the way indomitable Nadal pushed Federer to a degree he by no means thought he might obtain.
“You beat me—lots,” Federer wrote. “Greater than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in methods nobody else might. On clay, it felt like I used to be getting into your yard, and also you made me work more durable than I ever thought I might simply to carry my floor. You made me reimagine my recreation—even going as far as to vary the dimensions of my racquet head, hoping for any edge.”
Vamos, @RafaelNadal!As you get able to graduate from tennis, I’ve obtained a number of issues to share earlier than I perhaps get emotional.
Let’s begin with the apparent: you beat me—lots. Greater than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in methods nobody else might. On clay, it felt like I…
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) November 19, 2024
Federer, who received 16 and misplaced 24 in opposition to Nadal over the course of their illustrious rivalry, advised Nadl that he enhanced his appreciation for the game.
“Rafa, you made me benefit from the recreation much more,” he wrote. “OK, perhaps not at first. After the 2004 Australian Open, I achieved the No.1 rating for the primary time. I assumed I used to be on high of the world. And I used to be—till two months later, while you walked on the court docket in Miami in your pink sleeveless shirt, exhibiting off these biceps, and also you beat me convincingly. All that buzz I’d been listening to about you—about this wonderful younger participant from Mallorca, a generational expertise, in all probability going to win a serious sometime—it wasn’t simply hype.
“We had been each at first of our journey and it’s one we ended up taking collectively. Twenty years later, Rafa, I’ve to say: What an unimaginable run you’ve had. Together with 14 French Opens—historic! You made Spain proud… you made the entire tennis world proud.”
Lastly, Federer wished Nadal the perfect for the top of his profession, and what lies forward.
“Rafa, I do know you’re centered on the final stretch of your epic profession,” he mentioned. “We are going to discuss when it’s finished. For now, I simply need to congratulate your loved ones and workforce, who all performed a large function in your success. And I would like you to know that your previous good friend is at all times cheering for you, and shall be cheering simply as loud for the whole lot you do subsequent.”
