A letter from one legend to another. This Tuesday, November 19, a few hours before a duel in Davis Cup which could be Rafael Nadal’s last professional match, his great historical rival Roger Federer judged Tuesday on Majorcan had “made the entire tennis world proud”.
“You made me work harder than I ever imagined (…) You forced me to reinvent my game (…) You made me appreciate tennis even more (… ) What an incredible career you have had“, congratulated the former Swiss world number one on the social network.
“You made Spain proud… you made the entire tennis world proud“, he complimented him again, two years after being the first Big 3 player (Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic) to put away his rackets.
Referring precisely to his own farewell to London, where he played a doubles and cried with the Spaniard, Federer judged Tuesday that this day in 2022 “would forever remain one of the most beautiful moments of (his) career”.
“Rafa, I know you are focused on the final stretch of your extraordinary career” with a Davis Cup quarter-final against the Netherlands scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in Malaga. “We’ll talk once this is over,” the Swiss legend wrote, winner of 20 Grand Slam tournamentswithout confirming his presence at Nadal’s farewell in Malaga.
“I still think about the memories we shared. That match on a court that was half grass, half clay. This attendance record broken when we played in front of more than 50,000 spectators in Cape Town, South Africa. All the times we exhausted each other on the court, sometimes to the point where we literally had to support each other during the trophy ceremony,” Federer listed.
“I just want you to know that your old friend is always there to encourage youand will encourage you just as much in what you undertake after a professional career spanning 23 years and marked by 22 Grand Slam titles, including a record 14 at Roland-Garros.
