In an era defined by three of tennis’ greatest competitors, Rafael Nadal has revealed who his biggest rival was.
The news of Rafael Nadal’s upcoming retirement was as heartbreaking as it was inevitable
An injury hampered year on the ATP circuit saw the Spaniard miss three out of the four major tournaments.
Returning to the French Open, where Nadal is a 14 time champion, a straight sets defeat to Alexander Zverev came in the opening round.
Despite a run to the Swedish Open final, singles wins have been somewhat hard to come by for the veteran.
With his last two both coincidentally coming against Novak Djokovic at the Paris Olympics and Six Kings Slam, Nadal’s retirement has seen countless questions levelled to him about the Serb.
Rafael Nadal snubs Novak Djokovic as his biggest career rival
The pair met 60 times on the ATP tour – including in all four major finals – with Djokovic winning 31 overall.
However, Nadal didn’t name the Serb as his biggest rival, instead selecting Switzerland’s Roger Federer.
He told AS: “Djokovic is the player I have faced the most, but for me, my biggest rival has been Federer. Because, when I arrived on the circuit, it was Federer who was there and he was the first. In the years when I was at my best in every sense of the word, it was Roger and Novak. But in the first years, which are the ones that mark you in a special way, Roger was always there.