Rafael Nadal says, “That’s the beautiful thing” when asked about the relentless pressure he felt from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on his career

Rafael Nadal has lately spoken out about his long-running rivalry with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. According to him, Federer and Djokovic were the two players that always tested his limits and pushed him to give his all.

It is often believed that Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic are the three best tennis players of all time. All three have done incredible things, like holding the No. 1 position, winning a plethora of championships, and winning gold medals for their country in the Olympics. Among the Grand Slam singles champions, Nadal claims 22, Djokovic 24, and Federer 20.

Just two years ago, at the 2022 Laver Cup, the Swiss said goodbye to the sport, and the Spaniard said the same after leading Spain to the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, where he would retire from the sport.

Rafael Nadal is currently participating in the ‘6 Kings Slam,’ a tennis exhibition competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Novak Djokovic are among the other players scheduled to participate in the tournament.

When questioned about the possibility of playing Djokovic again at the exhibition event, the 22-time Grand Slam winner spoke to DAZN Sport. He responded by making a sardonic remark about how he has fought the Serb several times during his career, implying that he is overdue for another confrontation.

The 38-year-old refers to playing against the Serb as a “challenge,” noting that the two have a long history of intense competition that has tested him to his physical and mental limits.

No need to play again, we’ve played enough (laughs). However, there has always been fierce competition and a formidable obstacle. He’s the kind of player who has never stopped challenging me to perform at my best. According to him, that’s how we feel about each other [0:37].

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Along with Federer and Djokovic, Nadal said that they have always challenged each other to play at our best.

“Both of us with Roger [Federer], we push ourselves to the next level because the opponent in front has always been very strong and we need to be all the time improving, improving and improving to be able to keep competing at the level that we needed to keep having success,” [0:59] said.

In addition, the Spaniard said that he has loved fighting with Federer and Djokovic, and that he has always known that he needed to improve in order to beat them.

Sure thing! That is the most lovely aspect about sports, you know. He said, “Having big opponents in front gives you a more clear perspective about how you have to make this done.” things objective and drive to improve are constants for us.

The Grand Slam events and Rafael Nadal’s performances versus Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal at the French Open [Source: Getty]

Out of 60 meetings between the two players on the ATP circuit, 29 were won by Rafael Nadal. Novak Djokovic has never defeated Nadal. On the Grand Slam stages, they have met 18 times.

Djokovic won both of their matches against each other at the Australian Open. They met three times at Wimbledon, with the Spaniard taking home a single victory.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner met Novak Djokovic an unprecedented ten times at the French Open, with eight victories for the former. They met three times in the US Open, with the Spanishman coming out on top twice.

Contrarily, 24 of Rafael Nadal’s 40 ATP tour encounters against Roger Federer have been successful. Of their fourteen meetings at Grand Slam events, three of them were at the Australian Open, where Nadal won all three times.

The 38-year-old only managed a single victory versus Federer in four matches at Wimbledon, but he defeated the Swiss six times in the French Open. There was no meeting between the two during the US Open, which is rather interesting.