The greatest of all time? - Rafael Nadal: "Will analyze this when our careers are over"
With his 13th triumph at the French Open, Rafael Nadal was able to catch up with Roger Federer in terms of Grand Slam title. The Spaniard does not consider himself the best player of all time.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Oct 14, 2020, 07:12 pm
Rafael Nadal couldn't have won his 20th Grand Slam title much more impressively: The 34-year-old won all 18 of his plays in Roland Garros, and the Spaniard probably showed one of the best performances of his career in the final against his long-term rival Novak Djokovic - 0: 6, 2: 6 and 5: 7 were the almost devastating numbers from the point of view of the industry leader.
Not even the cool, sometimes adverse conditions could stop Nadal on the way to the history books - because the Mallorcan not only secured his 13th title at the French Open, but also drew level with record holder Roger Federer with his 20th major triumph .
Nadal is waiting
As so often in the recent past, the discussion arose after the final at Bois de Boulogne about who would be the best player of all time. Nadal himself answered this question pragmatically as usual in a conversation with ATP : "We'll see what will be in the coming years: what Djokovic will do, how Federer will act on his return and how I'll do myself. If everything goes well, will we'll analyze that when our careers are over. "
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Nevertheless, the world number two was naturally overjoyed after his new victory in Paris: "On a sporting level, it is clear that I have achieved something important. We talked about it for a while. I set a record that seemed unattainable."
"It's not that important to me"
But not only at the Grand Slam level, but also in the “Big Title classification” (Grand Slams, ATP Finals, ATP Masters 1000 titles and Olympics), Nadal caught up with the top. Djokovic leads this with 58 titles, Nadal (56) and Federer (54) follow in second and third place.
So there are a lot of statistics that need to be classified. Nadal also sees it this way: "The figures should be analyzed by people who have a lot of historical knowledge in tennis. To be honest, that's not that important to me. I'm happy with my career. At the moment it is clear that I am one of the two best player. "
As before, however, it is rather the joy of developing his game that drives the Mallorcan: "When you run out of enthusiasm, it's time to do something different. As long as I have this, I have to keep working hard every day work to give me opportunities to continue playing at the highest level. "