Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been stalwarts of the sport of tennis for over two decades. Both legends, alongside the Serb Novak Djokovic, form the big three of this generation and have played a major part in increasing the popularity of the sport.

Even though Federer isn’t participating in any of the tournaments currently, he is still on the tip of every tennis fan’s tongue when the topic is about Nadal. Speaking of their rivalry, Billie Jean King recently addressed how their careers could have been different if they weren’t competing against each other.

King about Nadal and Federer’s rivalry

The 12-time Grand Slam champion and the founder of the WTA spoke about how if they played in different eras, they would have achieved much more by now. She said, “Nadal and Federer took each other’s title. Same with Chris and Martina.”

“When you have Nadal and Federer playing each other, it cuts out how many they could have won. Because somebody else probably wouldn’t have been as good as the other one,” she explained. Roger Federer turned pro in the year 1998 while the Spaniard entered the world of professional tennis in the year 2001. Since then, they have challenged each other for almost every major honor, just like the 18-time Grand Slam champions Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

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Federer has not played any tournament since last year’s Wimbledon Championships. He walked out of the tournament after suffering a defeat against Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals.

Rafael Nadal takes the lead in the Grand Slam race

In the absence of the Swiss maestro, Nadal has stormed every major event to date this season. He first claimed victory in the hard courts of the Australian Open by defeating the current world no.1 Daniil Medvedev.

Thereafter, the Spaniard outclassed the defending champion, Novak Djokovic, on his way to his 22nd Grand Slam and 14th French Open title. He has now distanced himself from both Federer and Djokovic in the Grand Slam race.

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Currently, Nadal is looking to secure his third major title of the year. If he manages to secure Wimbledon as well, he will be very close to an elusive Calender Grand Slam.