Federer and Nadal have the same opinion, say their rivalry is the most special

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal seem to be on the same page when asked about their thoughts on the best rivalry they have ever had in the game. According to these two tennis superstars, their rivalry is the most special.

Speaking in an interview as quoted by Tennis World USA, the 17-time grand slam Swiss champion was asked which rivalry is more special to him. Federer, who ended Novak Djokovic’s 23-match winning streak in their second round-robin match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, said that he enjoyed playing the World No. 1 Serb in their match-ups, but he fancies the strong competition that he gets when he plays Nadal.

“Which rivalry is more special, it’s hard to predict,” Federer said. “Maybe slightly Rafa just because he came before Novak, I’ve always enjoyed the matchup with Novak, I think it’s always very cool and athletic and straightforward unlike Rafa where I feel like I have to change my game completely to compete with him.”

Nadal feels the same way. The 29-year-old said that he was also happy to become a part of the greatest rivalries in tennis with Djokovic and Federer, but he pointed out that his rivalry with the latter is also more special for tennis fans.

“I think against Federer what makes little more special for everybody is the combination of styles,” Nadal said in another report on Tennis World USA. “That makes the match a little bit more tactic, the match little bit more interesting that one try to do one thing, the other try to do the other thing, probably that makes our confrontation little bit more special for the people.”

Federer avenged his five-match losing streak against Nadal after beating the Spaniard in three sets 6-3 5-7 6-3 to claim his seventh trophy at hometown tournament at the Swiss Indoors Basel on Nov. 1. However, Nadal still leads, 23-11 in their all-time clashes with their first match dated all the way back in 2004 during the Round of 32 ATP World Tour Masters Series in Miami.

Federer and Nadal have fought eight times at a grand slam setup. The Swiss is 0-3 against Nadal at the Australian Open (2009 Finals, 2012 Semifinals, and 2014 Semifinals). He is 0-5 against Nadal at the Roland Garros (2005 Semifinals, 2006 Finals, 2007 Finals, 2008 Finals, and 2011 Finals) and 2-1 at the Wimbledon Championships (2006 - 2008 Finals). Federer and Nadal have never played against each other in the hard courts of the US Open.

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