It was the final of the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. Roger Federer was up against Rafael Nadal in what promised to be a thrilling matchup in the summit clash. The Swiss maestro was already a 5-time Wimbledon Champion back then and was looking to win his 6th consecutive title in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. However, Nadal held his nerves in the dying moments of the match to upset Federer in five sets. More than 16 years after that magnificent victory, former American tennis player, Alexandra Stevenson, remembered Nadal’s Wimbledon triumph over Federer.

Earlier this week, a new episode of the Serving Aces podcast dropped which featured Stevenson. One of the topics discussed on the podcast was Nadal’s retirement and his illustrious career. During that conversation, Stevenson highlighted a hidden quality about Nadal that not many might know.

Praising his down-to-earth nature, she said, “Nadal has the humility and the grit, his humility allowed him to adapt to his opponents on the court and not be stubborn and that’s like a huge trait especially for a professional tennis player because a lot of us get stubborn, right? He was so different from the other three. Nadal had the biggest heart out of the Big Four. He wouldn’t allow himself to go down in a match because he was different.”

Earlier in his career, Federer was very aggressive on the court and had a few outbursts during his matches. Similarly, Djokovic is not alien to controversial moments like racket-smashing incidents. However, Nadal rarely loses his cool on the court, something Stevenson praised.

Nadal is in the final stages of his illustrious career now. Earlier this month, he made the announcement that was on the horizon for quite some time.

Rafael Nadal on his retirement: ‘Appropriate time to put an end to a career’

Over the course of the past few months, Nadal has been a constant victim of injuries. Every time he tried making a comeback on the court, an injury setback pushed him away from it. Moreover, he is 38 and feels that his body has had enough. And he broke the news about his retirement on social media a few days back.

He said, “Hello everyone, I’m here to let you know that I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations. It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end. And I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”

While announcing his retirement decision, Nadal confirmed that the Davis Cup Finals next month will be his last tournament. Interestingly, there were rumors that Nadal would be participating in the upcoming Paris Masters. However, the tournament’s boss, Cedric Pioline, quashed rumors of the Spanish maestro requesting a wildcard entry. The Davis Cup finals, in all likelihood, will be Nadal’s farewell event. Almost everyone in the tennis community would want him to go on a high, winning another title for his country.