During a recent interview with Dutch media Roger Federer has labelled his rivalry with Rafael Nadal as the most intense of his career.
The 34-year-old made the comments after he confirmed that he will play at the Rotterdam Open in February. The 17-time Grand Slam champion has said that playing Nadal forced him to change his playing style during his career, due to Nadal’s left handed topspin. The change in Federer’s game was welcomed by the Swiss, who thanked Nadal for making him a different player.
” Our rivalry was epic, great”. Federer told the Dutch media.
“He made me rephrase my game many times. He is left-handed and the top spin that he stuck was something that I haven’t seen before in this sport. I had to adjust my game. If we look at how he played in 1999 and how I do it now, the change has been brutal. It’s much more crude which before everything was smooth. My movements, the way in which I hit the ball… I’m a different player and that is all thanks to Rafa”. He said.
Since 2004 Federer has played the Spaniard 33 times, trailing the head-to-head 10-23. Federer last played Nadal in the semifinals of the 2014 Australian Open where he lost in straight sets. Their Australian Open clash was the 11th time that they have played each other in a Grand Slam tournament. Federer has so far only been able to beat Nadal on two occasions at a Grand Slam (Wimbledon 2006 and 2007).
Federer’s rivalry with Nadal is a sharp contrast to the one he has with world No.1 Novak Djokovic. Federer has played the Serbian 42 times during his career with the head-to-head level at 21-21.
The two men have expressed great respect towards each other throughout their career. Back in 2010 Nadal said that people who labelled him a better player than Federer ‘doesn’t know anything about tennis’.
There is a strong chance that Federer could play Nadal before the end of the season. Both men will play at the Basel Open, BNP Paribas Masters and finally the ATP World Tour finals in London.
