By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday November 19, 2024
Roger Federer is among the many hundreds of thousands of tennis followers conserving a detailed 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—quite a bit,” 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 moving into your yard, and also you made me work tougher 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 scale of my racquet head, hoping for any edge.”
Vamos, @RafaelNadal!As you get able to graduate from tennis, I’ve obtained just a few issues to share earlier than I perhaps get emotional.
Let’s begin with the apparent: you beat me—quite a bit. 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 towards 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 believed I used to be on prime of the world. And I used to be—till two months later, once you walked on the courtroom in Miami in your purple sleeveless shirt, displaying off these biceps, and also you beat me convincingly. All that buzz I’d been listening to about you—about this superb younger participant from Mallorca, a generational expertise, in all probability going to win a significant sometime—it wasn’t simply hype.
“We have 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 unbelievable 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 very best for the tip 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 speak when it’s completed. For now, I simply need to congratulate your loved ones and crew, who all performed an enormous position in your success. And I need you to know that your outdated good friend is all the time cheering for you, and can be cheering simply as loud for all the things you do subsequent.”