Rafael Nadal, the “King of Clay,” entered his beloved Court Philippe-Chatrier and spoke to the fans, as well as fellow legends, as he reminisced about decades of incredible rivalries and discussed how time has transformed the rivalry into a beautiful friendship.
“Despite all these years struggling for everything, it’s incredible how time changes the way one sees everything,” Nadal stated, then turned specifically to his long-time rivals. “You don’t know yet, Novak. Perhaps you already know Andy. With Roger, we have spoken about it a couple of times.”
He continued to recognize the passion that characterized their fights, explaining, “All of the nerves, pressure, strange feelings you feel when we see each other when we are rivals. it’s completely different when you finish your career.”
Rafael Nadal is Celebrating Shared Dreams and Respect
Nadal indicated that his respect for Federer, Djokovic, and Murray went far beyond their on-court rivalries. “At the end, now, it’s all about being happy about everything that we achieved. All of us achieved our dreams. We became tennis players. Played in the most important stages of our careers.”
Standout was Nadal’s focus on sportsmanship and mutual respect that has characterized his relationships with the trio. “We created incredible rivalries but at the same time in a nice way. We demonstrated to the world that we can battle as fiercely as possible, but be good teammates and respect each other extremely well.”
Looking at the men who have inspired and challenged him, Nadal expressed a heartfelt message that was merged with hope and appreciation. “For me, it means a lot that you are all here… You gave me some hard times on court honestly but I really enjoyed pushing myself to the limit every single day to compete with all of you.”
The Spanish star reminded everybody that, at its essence, tennis is merely a game – and that life after the game is just as promising. “Sometimes we feel a bit more. But we understand at the end of the day, it’s really only a game.”
