Alex Corretja does not have his tongue in his pocket, especially when he gives long and beautiful interviews like with our Spanish colleagues from Jot Down.
After admitting that he did not understand Rafael Nadal, defending Novak Djokovic and criticizing the puerile debate of the GOAT with Grand Slam titles as his only prism, the former world number 2 this time mentioned Roger Federer and the weight of confrontations in a sport like tennis.
“And what does that mean (confrontations, editor’s note)? Nothing. That my game, in his time, didn’t go so well with Federer’s style because he was very young and failed a lot with the backhand and on clay, I just had to send a lot of high balls there. I beat Nadal very, very young. He had no experience and I did, but it’s insignificant. So when people say: ‘Federer lost more times against Djokovic and Nadal and that’s why he can’t be the best in history’, for me it’s nonsense. In terms of playing styles, Nadal, of course, is going to do a lot of damage to Federer. The only tactical mole that hurts Federer is the high ball on the backhand and the best shot in history is Rafa’s high cross forehand on the opponent’s backhand… He combines the best of one with the only weak point of the other. It is therefore normal that he beats him often. And that Djokovic beats him is also normal: because he neutralizes his serve like no other, because he plays it very long, because he doesn’t let him catch his forehand as he wishes… it’s normal that he beats him several times. What I mean is that these are styles of play, nothing more. »
Posted on Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 3:45 PM
