Roger Federer's former coach, Ivan Ljubicic, has described what it was like playing Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros and compared his style to Federer's.
Nadal joined Federer as a retired player after Spain's loss to the Netherlands in the quarterfinal of the Davis Cup Finals. Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers lost the deciding doubles match to Wesley Koolhof and Botic van de Zandschulp.
The 38-year-old lost the final match of his career against van de Zandschulp. Despite working hard to prepare for the Davis Cup Finals, Nadal was a shadow of his great self during that contest.
An emotional retirement ceremony followed Spain's elimination, including tributes paid to Nadal from figures such as Federer, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, and Juan Martin Del Potro.
Federer also wrote a lengthy and touching message to Nadal on the morning of what turned out to be the final day of his career, showing the close friendship the pair have shared for many years.
Nadal and Federer shared one of the most iconic rivalries in sports history. They played unbelievable five-set Grand Slam finals at the 2007 and 2008 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2009 and 2017 Australian Opens.
The pair's contrast in styles was part of what made the rivalry so special. Federer's calm personality and classic game balanced perfectly against Nadal's relentless intensity and unique technique.
Ljubicic had a solid ATP career before becoming Federer's coach. That included facing Nadal at Roland Garros and having many matches against Federer, although none of those were at Wimbledon.
In an interview with Eurosport, Ljubicic said Nadal's game was not tactically complicated, but he still could not handle the Spaniard's heavy topspin when competing against him at the French Open, in particular.
"Playing against Rafa at the Philippe Chatrier is difficult, it is a traumatic experience. I never played against Roger at Wimbledon, but I faced him many times and it was complicated because he had all the solutions."
"Rafa has a tactically quite simple tennis, but impossible to handle with his particular topspin, but Roger came up with different solutions every time, and for me, tactically, it was very complicated."
Ljubicic also finds it hard to accept that Nadal will never compete professionally at Roland Garros again, even though he can understand why the 22-time Grand Slam champion decided to retire.
"I was surprised when he announced his retirement. Obviously I can understand why, that’s not the point. But for me, Rafa Nadal is Roland Garros, and seeing that he’s not going to play Roland Garros is difficult to accept."
"Champions play like this to win, not to participate. I don’t know exactly his level of play or his physical condition, but it is not what we are used to and that allows him to be competitive at a very high level."
Nadal's reduced athleticism in his final match against van de Zandschulp showed why he cannot compete at the very top anymore, but the memories of how incredible he used to be will live on forever.
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