When it comes to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s greatness, nothing much separates the two. The duo has dominated men’s tennis for over 2 decades, winning almost every big title between them. While success was tasted by both Federer and Nadal, the two had different approaches to the sport. Recently, former French Open champion, Jose Cuevas, pointed out the biggest difference between Federer and Nadal.

A couple of years back, Federer called time on his illustrious career after the Laver Cup in 2022. Nadal will soon follow suit as he will retire after the Davis Cup Finals. As curtains are drawn on their illustrious careers, Cuevas rolled down the years and highlighted a major difference between the Federer-Nadal duo.

Interestingly, Cuevas had an opportunity to train opposite both Federer and Nadal. While he found the Swiss maestro very calm during the training sessions, his experience against Nadal revealed a different story. Cuevas revealed, “Rafa, on the other hand, was always training that competitive side: no matter how the training was going, the number one objective was to win, no matter how hard he was working on something else.”

Moreover, Cuevas termed Federer during training as someone who was ‘least bit interested’ in the result. On the other hand, Nadal wanted to win every point he played while training. This aggressive mindset could be resonated on the courts during tournaments. “The first time we [Cuevas and Nadal] trained together was in Hamburg, and I won a set during that training. From then on, he invited me to train with him about 25 times in the following six months, to win sets and to make it clear to me that winning that set had been a fluke,” Cuevas further added.

Meanwhile, Nadal’s retirement is just days away. The Spanish legend will retire after the Davis Cup Finals and a special send-off ceremony is planned. However, Federer’s attendance at that event looks dicey.

Will Roger Federer attend the farewell ceremony of Rafael Nadal?

As soon as Davis Cup Finals tournament director, Feliciano Lopez announced that a special ceremony would take place to bid farewell to the illustrious career of Nadal, he received several requests to attend the ceremony. While confirming that the likes of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will attend the event, Lopez also revealed that not every request would be fulfilled.

However, when asked if Federer will attend the ceremony, Nadal said, “I didn’t talk to Roger. I think Roger has busy schedule. By the way, of course, that’s going to be my last week on the professional tour, but I don’t think going to be my last goodbye. So gonna be another chances to do something.”

A full house is expected in Malaga as Nadal will feature for one final time on the court as a professional player. Despite the Davis Cup Final being his maiden domestic appearance, Nadal wants to keep his emotions aside and help his country win the title.