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Roger Federer explains why Rafael Nadal was toughest opponent and it will leave you in splits
Roger Federer named Rafael Nadal as his toughest opponent and also explained the reason behind picking the Spaniard.
Having announced his retirement in 2022, Roger Federer called time on a legendary career which saw him clinch 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a record eight Wimbledon trophies and an Open Era joint-record of five men's singles US Open titles.
The Swiss ace won his first major singles title at Wimbledon in 2003 at the age of 21, and then between 2003-09, he played in 21 out of 28 Major singles finals. During his playing career, Federer had some intense rivalries with other competitors, including Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and Juan Martin del Potro. From all his competitors, his rivalry against Federer stood out from others.
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The pair faced each other 40 times, with Nadal leading 24-16. On grass, Federer has a 3-1 winning record and 11-9 on hard courts, but Nadal leads on clay 14-2. Also, 24 of their encounters were in tournament finals, including an all-time record nine major finals (tied with Djokovic-Nadal matches). Such was their impact on tennis, that their rivalry played a huge part in both their careers. Their last face-off was at the 2019 Wimbledon, where Federer won to reach the final.
Recently, Federer held a training session for children in New York and was asked to name a player against whom he struggled the most on the court. The legend had a simple reply, he said, "I struggled against Rafa the most. Yeah, just bc of his topspin and lefty, you know. Do you like playing against lefties?"
"No," she replied.
"There you go," Federer quipped.
Federer and Nadal held the top-two rankings on the ATP Tour from July 2005-August 17 2009, when Nadal fell to no. 3 position and Murray climbed to no. 2. Once again from September 11 2017-October 15 2018, until Djokovic became no. 2.The duo are the only pair of men to have ever finished six consecutive calendar years at the top.
From 2006-08, Federer and Nadal played in every French Open and Wimbledon final, and also met in the 2009 Australian Open final, 2011 Roland Garros final and the 2017 Australian Open final. The Spaniard won six of the nine, losing the first two Wimbledon finals and the second Australian Open final. Of their 40 encounters, 13 matches reached a deciding set. They also faced each other in 12 Master finals, including a lone five-hour match at the 2006 Rome Masters, which Nadal won in the fifth set tie-break, having saved two match points.
