Roger Federer admits rivalry with Rafael Nadal is the ‘most intense’ in his career

Former World No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland believes that his greatest rival is another former top ranked player in Rafael Nadal of Spain as the Swiss Maestro described the Federer vs Nadal rivalry as the “most intense” in his career.

'The most intense rivalry I have ever had was with Rafa, no doubt on that. It has been an epic and incredible rivalry and it will continue to be like this because we are going to play often in the future,” the 34-year-old Federer said in an interview as quoted by Tennis World.

“He made me change my game many times since he is lefty and we had never seen a player who could hit the ball with so much spin. If we see the way I played in 1999 and the way I play now, the change is brutal. Now I play with more strength, before I had such a 'soft' game. My movements, the way I hit the ball, I'm a different player due to Rafa's presence.”

Federer’s statement is a compliment to the 29-year-old Spaniard, who despite falling off the charts in the recent world rankings, remains one of the few players who has dominated the Swiss in their head to head match-ups. Nadal leads Federer, 23-10 in all-time meetings between the two rivals including five straight since 2013.

Federer and Nadal have met in the Grand Slam finals eight times, a record in the Open Era history plus four meetings in a single Grand Slam tournament (French Open).

Nadal is 3-0 against Federer at the Australian Open (2009, 2012 and 2014), 5-0 at the French Open (2005 to 2007, 2008 and 2011) and 1-2 at the Wimbledon Championships (2006 to 2008). The pair has never met at the US Open.

While Nadal has dominated Federer in their head-to-head meetings, the Swiss still is the more successful player between the two with regards to total titles won. Federer holds the record for most Grand Slam titles at 17 while Nadal has 14, nine of which comes from his specialty, the clay court championship in France.

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