Rafa has published a beautiful message to greet his rival, friend and companion of a thousand battles with a long and moving social post.
Roger Federer has announced his retirement from tennis. To do this, he decided to publish a video in which he explains the reasons for his decision: to follow the video, the social post where there is the full letter that the Swiss wanted to write.
The dedication included everyone: friends, family, opponents, teams and above all fans. Rafael Nadal has published a beautiful message to greet his rival, friend and companion of a thousand battles with a long and moving social post.
Rafa wrote: “I wish this day had never come. It is a sad day for me personally and for people all over the world who love sports. I told you when we talked and here it is. It has been a pleasure, but also an honor and a privilege to share all these years with you, having so many wonderful moments together, on and off the court.
We will still have many moments to share to share together in the future, but there are still many things to do together, we know. For now, I would sincerely wish you the best with your wife Mirka, your children, your family and enjoy for what the future will give you.
We will see you in London for the Laver Cup.”
Federer-Nadal’s rivalry
Federer and Nadal clashed 40 times. Nadal leads the heads up 24-16. Most of their challenges (23 out of 40) were played in tournament finals, including nine Grand Slam tournament finals. From 2006 to 2017, the two rivals played four finals at the Roland Garros, three at the Wimbledon Tournament and two at the Australian Open.
Nadal won six of those nine finals, losing the first two in Wimbledon and the last in Australia. Four of these nine finals made it to the fifth set (Wimbledon 2007 and 2008 and Australian Open 2009 and 2017 with two wins each), and the 2008 Wimbledon final was cited by many as the most beautiful and exciting game in the history of the tennis.
They also faced each other in 12 Masters Series finals, including a very long final at the Rome Masters in 2006 which lasted over 5 hours and ended with Nadal’s fifth set tie break victory.
