World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has opened up about the special bond he shares with reigning Australian Open Roger Federer.
The 31-year-old Majorcan revealed that he was indeed grateful to the 20-time Grand Slam champion because he pushed him to work harder, forced him to tweak his game and focus on his fitness in order to improve as a player.
Both Nadal and Federer have swapped the No. 1 ranking in recent times and have won the last five Grand Slam titles. Yet, Nadal insisted that there wasn’t any competition between the pair because they have a lot of mutual respect for each other. Thanking Federer for his evolution as a tennis player, Nadal said that the 36-year-old has been fantastic over the years.
“It’s not a competition with Federer,” Nadal said in an interview with TGCom24.
“For me Federer has his own career, I have my own, Federer is fantastic for all the things he did and I think me too.
“We were good to keep a good relationship each other.
“It’s true that we played in many very important situations for both, (made up) of pressure, but the most important thing is that we understood that at the end it’s a game.
“I am a grateful and lucky person for all the things I lived and the experience that I had during all these years on the Tour.”
While the Swiss legend is recharging his batteries by skipping the entire clay court season ahead of the Wimbledon Championships starting in the first week of July, Nadal is in Paris for the defense of his Roland Garros crown.
The Spaniard is bidding for an unprecedented 11th trophy at the French Open this month to stay at the top of the men’s rankings.