Roger Federer has wished his former rivals well ahead of the 2024 season, which could be the final year of the Rafael Nadal’ career.
Federer called an end to his illustrious career at the 2022 Laver Cup, where he said an emotional farewell alongside Nadal and Novak Djokovic as part of Team Europe.
A year later, the Swiss has been asked about his rivalry and relationship with Djokovic and Nadal, “I was really happy and fortunate to be playing against them almost 40 to 50 times each.
“So I have a lot of memories from a lot of great matches, battles. I’ve answered questions about them so so many times and I can only say the best things about them.”
The 42-year-old then went onto speak about the upcoming season, where Nadal will return after almost a year on the injury sidelines.
“It’s been great to share the court with them for so many years and I hope that Rafa can come back very strong next year,” said Federer. “And I hope that Novak can keep on playing as long as he wants because it’s just really good for the game to have these guys still in the game.”
Nadal will officially return at the Brisbane International, that begins on Sunday 31st December, before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
https://x.com/BrisbaneTennis/status/1730727379327463843?s=20
Inside the baseline…
When most people think about men’s tennis in the 21st century, there minds go to ‘the big three’ of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. With Federer already retired, and Nadal admitting that 2024 could very well be his final year, it certainly feels as though it is coming to an end of an era. However, Djokovic does not seem like stopping anytime soon.
Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal
The ‘big three’ have dominated men’s tennis in the 21st century, winning 66 of the last 81 major singles tournaments.
However, the age old debate is always about who is really the greatest of all time, so we at Tennishead wanted to delve into the numbers:
Roger Federer
Career-high: No.1 (310 weeks)
ATP titles: 103
Grand Slam titles: 20
ATP Masters 1000 titles: 28
Olympic medals: 2 (Doubles Gold – 2008, Singles Silver – 2012)
ATP Finals titles: 6 (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 & 2011)
Davis Cup titles: 1 (2014)
Novak Djokovic
Career-high: No.1 (402 weeks*)
ATP titles: 98
Grand Slam titles: 24
ATP Masters 1000 titles: 40
Olympic medals: 1 (Singles Bronze – 2008)
ATP Finals titles: 7 (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2022 & 2023)
Davis Cup titles: 1 (2010)
*Currently the ATP No.1
Rafael Nadal
Career-high: No.1 (209 weeks)
ATP titles: 92
Grand Slam titles: 22
ATP Masters 1000 titles: 36
Olympic medals: 2 (Singles Gold – 2008, Doubles Gold – 2016)
ATP Finals titles: 0 (Best result: Final – 2010 & 2013)
Davis Cup titles: 5 (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 & 2019)
Head-to-head
Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic: 23-27
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal: 16-24
Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal: 30-29
