Rafael Nadal on Roger Federer: "They're not close friends"
Rafael Nadal spoke in an interview about his current physical condition and the relationship with his long-term rival Roger Federer. Which is obviously not as intimate as it sometimes appears to the outside world.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Mar 28, 2021, 05:55 pm
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have faced each other 40 times in the last 17 years on the tennis court. The title of the corresponding tournament was up for grabs 24 times, only one meeting between the two took place before the quarter-finals. That means: if Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are facing each other, then there is a lot going on. Mostly even for the title.
The rivalry between the two is of course correspondingly great, in the past it usually meant achieving one's own goal - namely to maximize sporting success - and having to defeat the other. So it is somewhat surprising when you see video recordings like before the first Match for Africa , which Roger Federer is now traditionally setting up, on which the two long-term rivals can be seen sitting side by side, laughing heartily.
Rafael Nadal has now personally underlined that such scenes do not really reflect the reality of the relationship between the two: "We are very good companions and our relationship has improved over time," said the Spaniard. "But we are not close friends," emphasized the world number three in an interview with Sergio Rial, President of the Santander Bank in Brazil.
Nadal: "Can always call him"
Because for a truly close friendship, it takes a lot more than a few cheerful moments of togetherness: "I would not tell him that my knee hurts before a game against him," the Swiss Blick quoted the bull from Manacor . And yet: "We can always call each other and talk about everything," said Nadal, who clearly leads the direct comparison with Federer with 24 to 16 wins.
At the moment, however, there is very little to suggest that the duel between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be relaunched anytime soon. After his short comeback in Doha, the former is now completing another building block with regard to Wimbledon and Olympia, while Nadal is clearly focusing on the pitch season: "I want to be competitive and well prepared. This is the most important time of the year for me . I work very hard for it. " He is therefore planning, according to Nadal, to play through the entire clay court season from Monte Carlo.