Rafael Nadal Reveals his Desire to Play Against Bjorn Borg

Rafael Nadal is chasing his 12th Roland Garros title at the French Open 2019. He is set to play the finals against Dominic Thiem on Sunday in a repeat clash of the 2018 edition of the Roland Garros. In an interview with ATP Tennis TV, Rafael Nadal revealed his desire to play against Bjorn Borg.

Rafael Nadal was asked in the interview, “If you could play any retired player, who would you play against and why?”

The Spaniard said, “I would choose Borg, Bjorn because all the stories that I heard of his reflex. I would like to have the challenge to play against him.” Bjorn Borg is one of the greatest players in the sport. He won 11 grand slam titles with 6 French Open titles and 5 Wimbledon titles.

Bjorn Borg felt delighted after hearing the Spaniard’s comments. He praised Rafael Nadal and said, “Well, it’s very impressive. Rafa is the best clay court player ever played the game.” 

Earlier, Roger Federer also praised Rafael Nadal after his straight-sets semifinals defeat against him. He said, “He makes you feel uncomfortable the way he defends the court and plays on clay. There is nobody who even plays remotely close to him.”

“I don’t even know who I need to go search for to go practice with somebody who plays like him, “ said Federer smilingly. “I was thinking that during the match. It’s just amazing how he plays from deep and then is able to bounce back and forth from the baseline. It’s just quite interesting.”

The 20-time grand slam champion added, “No, but my mindset still was, you know, it’s windy, anything can happen. I didn’t play poor two first sets in my opinion. I thought Rafa really had to come up with the goods to make the difference, and the difference was a passing shot here, a pickup there, and then he was doing great, you know.”