‘Wish This Day Would Have Never Come’ – Rafael Nadal Sends an Emotional Message After Roger Federer Announces Retirement

After Roger Federer announced his retirement from professional tennis, the tennis world paid tribute to the Swiss legend. Many former and current players paid homage, including arguably his greatest rival in tennis and his best friend on the tour, Rafael Nadal.

Notably, Federer and Nadal share a great bond on and off the court. Moreover, they have always shown appreciation for one another and helped each other in achieving great success. When Nadal won the Australian Open earlier this year, Federer sent a beautiful message on social media praising the great Spaniard. Now it was Nadal’s turn to return the favor to this great champion.

Rafael Nadal pays tribute to Roger Federer

Earlier, Nadal took to Instagram and wrote, “Dear Roger, my friend and rival. I wish this day would have never come… it’s a sad day for me personally and for sports people around the world. I said it to you when we spoke and now it’s here.”

“It’s been a pleasure but also an honor and privilege to share all these years with you, living so many amazing moments on and off the court. We will have many more moments to share together in the future, there are still lots of things to do together, we know that… I’ll see you in London at the @lavercup,” the Spaniard further wrote.

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In his post, Nadal also shared some beautiful pictures of him and Federer; and the very first picture was from the 2019 Wimbledon semi-final, which was incidentally their last ever meeting on the tour.

The Friendship between Nadal and Federer

Although they have always been rivals on the tennis court, their friendship off the court is truly remarkable. When Nadal opened his academy in 2016, Federer appeared as a special guest to unveil his ‘Rafa Nadal Academy’. Moreover, Nadal gifted him a photo collage of the moments they shared the court with one another.

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In 2020, Federer arranged an exhibition match in South Africa for his ‘Roger Federer Foundation’ to help with the education of underprivileged kids in Africa. He invited Nadal to take part, and the Spaniard happily said yes. The match garnered a record number of people as they raised around $3 million.

As mentioned earlier, Federer called Nadal an ‘inspiration’ in a beautiful message after the Spaniard won the 2022 Australian Open. As Federer announced that the Laver Cup will be his last ever tournament, Nadal is looking forward to seeing his Swiss friend for one last time on the tennis court.