Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s relationship, and its progression across two wonderful careers, has been one of the best things to ever come out of tennis.
The fiercest of rivals on the court, off it, their mutual respect has blossomed into a friendship that the entire tennis community cannot get enough of.
People love to know how, when and what they talk about, and now the Swiss superstar has opened up on their most recent collaboration.
However, he did so with a touch of fear when discussing Nadal’s current season in particular.
Roger Federer reveals his Roland Garros worry for Rafael Nadal
Speaking to German outlet Welt, Federer has been relentless in his press drive for his upcoming Amazon Prime documentary.
Titled ‘Federer: Twelve Final Days,’ it promises to be an enthralling and insightful look into the final week or so before his retirement after the 2022 Laver Cup.
He has been pictured everywhere, in a technological motif on Tower Bridge in London or in Italian and now German newspapers.
And some of his claims have been really interesting too, with Federer even hinting he would come out of retirement to play one event with Rafael Nadal.
His latest once again relates to the Spaniard, but instead admitted a key worry he had for his long-time rival and friend ahead of Roland Garros.
He claimed: ‘We’re in touch all the time, and were recently together in the Dolomites for the Louis Vuitton video shoot. It’s a difficult phase for him, but I thought he actually did well the whole clay court season – knowing that he hadn’t played for a long time before that.
‘I was actually a little worried that it wouldn’t be so good. Because he lost early to Alexander Zverev in Roland Garros, he can now take it easy a little before the Olympic Games. I wish him all the best, of course.’
Rafael Nadal looked solid on clay
Despite failing to go deep in any of the four clay-court tournaments he played in, there was visible progression made with each week for Nadal.
After all, having beaten Flavio Cobolli in Barcelona, he came unstuck against the relentless Alex de Minaur in the following round.
Due to his lack of ranking, Madrid saw him face the Australian once again in the second round after he had dispatched American teenager Darwin Blanch.
Learning from his mistakes, he dug deep to dump out the 25-year-old in straight sets, only losing in the Round of 16 to the big-serving Jiri Lehecka.
Rome once again saw him struggle to overcome this tactic, with Hubert Hurkacz the perpetrator this time, before the French Open had snuck up on him.
When the draw was made, people rushed to find his name, desperately seeking to see who would be facing the King of Clay in the very first round. And, for Nadal, it could not have been more tough.
Facing the eventual finalist Alexander Zverev, he had chances to take the initiative, but ultimately lost in straight sets.
However, there was clear progression made.
Should he continue to play sparingly and with intelligence given the physical demands of his ageing body, perhaps next year he could make marked improvements to enjoy one proper last dance at this swing of the tour.
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