Rafael Nadal has explained why his rivalry with Roger Federer was ‘more attractive’ than his rivalry with Novak Djokovic during the Big Three era.
The three superstars dominated professional men’s tennis for around two decades, winning a combined total of 66 major singles titles to date.
Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are all considered to be among the very best players of all time and the trio enjoyed fascinating rivalries with each other.
Spanish icon Nadal dominated on clay, Federer excelled on grass and hard courts but Djokovic is viewed by most as being the better all-round player.
Djokovic never seemed to receive the same love and respect as the ‘Fedal’ duo, though, despite surpassing them for the most Grand Slam titles (24).
The Serbian, who is the last remaining active player of the three legends, clinched four more major trophies than Federer and two more than Nadal.
Nadal, who joined Federer in retirement last year, has now opened up about his iconic rivalries with Swiss hero Federer and tennis’ true GOAT Djokovic.
‘With Roger the matches, in my opinion, the reason why the rivalry with Roger was a bit more attractive for the fans than Novak against me…’ Nadal told the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
‘Even if I played more times with Novak, and we played exactly the same amount of important matches, if not more… with Roger the strategy was more clear.
‘I was trying to do one thing. He was trying to do the other thing. In some way, I was trying to kill his backhand all the time.
‘Even if I had the chance to play the shot down the line, I was saying to myself, ‘Okay, when I have to play the shot down the line, it’s only for two reasons’ – the first reason is because I go for the winner.
‘The other reason is because I need to keep him away from that side to create more space.
‘He was trying to avoid that. He was trying to play more aggressive. Every time he was hitting one forehand, I felt like I was in a step back.
‘His forehand for me is… yeah, the best that I played against. It’s a little bit more of a chess match. Everybody knows what’s going to happen.
‘Everyone knows what the strategy is going to be. When he was playing very well, he beat me. When I was playing very well, I beat him.’
Nadal admits that Djokovic is the best player he’s ever seen in terms of ball control.
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‘Against Novak it was a little bit about… OK, we can have a strategy, but I need to play very well,’ Nadal added. ‘I need to play very well all the time. We don’t play the same style of course. But it’s not a clear strategy. Against Roger, I will damage him against his backhand. Against Novak, I don’t have that feeling.
‘The feeling is I need to play very well for a long time and know that I have to adjust things. I can’t play too many times against his backhand. Especially high balls because then he takes the ball quicker and puts you in a very difficult position. I started to use the slice more against him.
‘Sometimes it worked for me well. Sometimes against Novak it was good to play to the middle. Don’t give him a lot of angles.
‘With Novak, when you’re able to open him, if you don’t really create a lot of damage, he was able to open you more. In terms of ball control, I think he’s the best I ever played and that I ever saw.’
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