Roger Federer recently revealed that he was fretful about Rafael Nadal's health while monitoring his progress at the 2024 Bastad Open.
Federer and Nadal have been fierce rivals throughout their long and storied careers. They have shared the limelight frequently and have each held the world number one ranking at the height of their powers.
Although the now-retired 42-year-old Federer recorded the second-most weeks at No. 1 in ATP history with 310 (only Novak Djokovic has more), Nadal has two more Grand Slams than his former rival's tally of 20.
In the last 18 months, Nadal has been inching closer to retirement despite his relentless desire to prolong his career beyond 2024. He competed in his first final since the 2022 Roland Garros in the Swedish city of Bastad, where, after 19 long years, he returned to "defend" his title.
Nadal played in his sixth tournament of an injury-ravaged tennis season and reached the final after a laborious and exhausting week, which included a four-hour quarterfinal win over Mariano Navone.
Little did he know that Federer had been looking at the score throughout the week, but not after the final match, which Nadal lost in straight sets to Portugal's Nuno Borges.
Upon learning the result, the Swiss legend expressed his disappointment but also concern over the Spaniard's body, hoping he wasn't injured, given the one-sided scoreline.
"He lost? Oh, come on. Three and two (the scoreline) Oh, God. Yeah, I saw he was down 1-0, love-40. That’s the last time I checked, a few hours ago, but when I saw the score, I was like, ‘Oh, no—I hope his body is okay."
It's been two years since Federer retired from professional tennis, but, as he has said many times in that time, he takes an active role as a fan of the ATP Tour. He stays up to date with what is happening on a daily basis by checking scores and noting any breakout stars in men's tennis.
The Swiss is also an integral member working behind the scenes to run the Laver Cup, a tournament he helped co-found in 2017. This year, Federer has been busy promoting his newest tennis documentary, Twelve Finals Days, which recounts his retirement journey in September 2022.
"So, yeah — I do check in with the game almost daily to see scores and results. Watching is a whole different thing — I love watching it when it’s on TV. We’ve been watching a ton of football as well — the Euros, and now the Olympics are coming up, so I’m going to watch all of that. I’m a big sports fan. But again, I’m always out and about and busy."
"But especially in the evening, when the day unwinds and I have time to sit back and maybe go on YouTube and watch some highlights, I tend to do that. I like to be up to speed on what’s going on, because the guys play nice, and I like to see what they’re doing."
Federer and Nadal reunited earlier this year as brand ambassadors of a Louis Vuitton campaign in the Dolomites. The two former rivals and now great friends will meet again at the 2024 Laver Cup in Berlin, where Nadal is one of the playing members of Team Europe.
0 Comments