Roger Federer was full of praise for his rival and fellow long-term ATP competitor Rafael Nadal secured his 22nd Grand Slam title at the 2022 Roland Garros.
Nadal lifted his 14th career title at the clay-court major earlier in June, defeating Casper Ruud in the final. It was also the Spanish star's second major title of 2022 after he won the Australian Open in January, besting opponent Danill Medvedev in a five-set epic.
Both of Nadal's 2022 Grand Slam triumphs took him to 22 major titles - two more than Federer, who has been out of action since Wimbledon 2021. However, the Swiss great has not yet called time on his career and he is set to return at the 2022 Laver Cup in autumn.
While Federer has been watching from the sidelines as Nadal keeps winning Grand Slams, he could not hold back his praise for his ATP rival. When speaking to Tages Anzeiger the 40-year-old said that, although he didn't witness Nadal's 14th win at the French Open, he was incredibly impressed by what the Spaniard has achieved throughout his career.
“I didn't watch the final, I watched the quarter-final (against Djokovic) a bit before I went to sleep. In general, it's just unbelievable what Rafa has achieved. The record of Pete Sampras, which I beat, was 14 Grand Slam titles."
Federer is no stranger to elite tennis success himself and the 20-time major champion knows what it takes to win Grand Slams. During his career, which started in 1998, the Swiss veteran has won all four majors at least once, but only lifted one Roland Garros title back in 2009 when he defeated Robin Soderling.
In his other four finals at the French Open, Federer faced Nadal but he could not overcome the Spanish player, who is also referred to as the 'King of Clay' for his dominance on the surface. When reflecting on Nadal's unrivalled success at the Roland Garros, Federer explained his surprise about how the 36-year-old keeps going to win more and more titles at the event.
""Now Rafa won the French Open 14 times. That's unbelievable. I was happy for him that he did it again. Hats off to Rafa. After the tenth, eleventh time, I already thought: This can't be. He keeps raising the bar. It's gigantic.”