Roger Federer shared a heartfelt note reflecting on his rivalry with Rafael Nadal ahead of the Spaniard’s farewell at the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain. The Swiss legend’s message later prompted reactions from Maria Sharapova and Coco Gauff.
Nadal recently brought an end to his illustrious career after losing his singles match to Team Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets, 4-6, 4-6. This came nearly two years after Federer’s last dance at the 2022 Laver Cup.
Before the 14-time French Open champion’s farewell, his arch-rival Federer penned an emotional tribute to Nadal on Instagram. In the note, the 43-year-old humorously reminisced about his rival’s unique rituals that captivated the world.
“I’m not a very superstitious person, but you took it to the next level. Your whole process,” he went on. “All those rituals. Assembling your water bottles like toy soldiers in formation, fixing your hair, adjusting your underwear… All of it with the highest intensity,”
Federer wrote in a lengthy note.
Secretly, I kind of loved the whole thing. Because it was so unique—it was so you,” he added
Five-time Major champion Maria Sharapova and reigning WTA Finals champion Coco Gauff responded to the tribute in the comments. The Russian wrote:
Gauff expressed her emotions in the comments with an emotional emoji, and a heart emoji.
Although World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz leveled the score with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Tallon Griekspoor, the Spanish team couldn’t provide Nadal with a fairytale ending. Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers lost the final doubles match to Wesley Koolhof and Botic van de Zandschulp, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), ending their nation’s Davis Cup campaign.
At the beginning of the note, Roger Federer acknowledged Rafael Nadal’s dominance on clay, describing how Nadal pushed him to constantly improve, even altering his racquet size in search of competitive advantage.
On clay, it felt like I was stepping into your backyard, and you made me work harder than I ever thought I could just to hold my ground. You made me reimagine my game—even going so far as to change the size of my racquet head, hoping for any edge,” he wrote.
Nadal and Federer faced each other 40 times on tour, with the Spaniard holding the upper hand, winning 24 matches compared to the Swiss’ 16 victories.
Nadal was overcome with emotion during the post-match ceremony as spectators chanted “Raaa-faaa” while a tribute video highlighted moments from his iconic career.
