Over 2 Decades of Sharing Nail-Biting Rivalry Later, Rafael Nadal Reveals One Deep Regret About His Journey With Roger Federer

What Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have accomplished in tennis is just remarkable. But now that things have changed and Federer has retired, the Spaniard is only bothered by one thing about his journey with his arch-rival. The 22-time Grand Slam champion in the Swiss Maestro’s Biography revealed a section of their time together on the tennis court that is missing from their history.

Even after years of playing together, Nadal’s concern is something that always remains the same. Let’s check out what bothers the Spaniard most about his friend and archrival, Federer.

Rafael Nadal once shared his concern regarding Roger Federer

Even after being arch-rivals on the tennis court, both of them share a great bond as friends and as tennis players. Their journey together in the realm of tennis is the prime focus of the Swiss Maestro’s biography, The Roger Federer Effect, written by Simon Graf and Simon Cambers. In the biography, there was an instance when the 37-year-old Spanish star shared his deep regret about his tennis journey alongside Federer.

Nadal said, “It is difficult in some way to think [of] tennis in the last 15, 20 years without thinking about the rivalry that we have because we have been playing in every big stadium—not in New York, that’s the only thing that bothers me a little bit, that we never played in New York.”

Last year the 20-time Grand Slam champion retired from tennis. It meant that their rivalry ended without them meeting on the hallowed courts of Flushing Meadows.

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Last year, there was an opportunity for them to face each other in New York when the Swiss ace was ready to make a comeback. At the same time, the ‘King of Clay’ was trying to win back-to-back Grand Slam championships at Wimbledon, with an eye on the US Open. But it wasn’t meant to be, as both suffered to recover from their injuries.

Over the years, both of them have frequently shared their concerns for each other. Just a month ago, the Swiss legend turned optimist while sharing a concern about Nadal’s uncertain future.

When Federer expressed concern about Nadal

The 41-year-old Swiss legend expressed his concern about how he hopes the 22-time Grand Slam champion can overcome his ailments in an interview with CNN Sport after looking into Nadal’s uncertain future.

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While the 20-time Grand Slam champion is aware of the different injuries that come with age, he just wants his good friend to retire from the sport whenever he is ready, just like he did a year ago. Such instances show that even after being rivals for such a long time, their care and concern for each other have stood the test of time.