Andrea Petkovic wrote in length about Rafael Nadal’s illustrious career after his retirement at the Davis Cup.
Roger Federer, Andrea Petkovic, Rafael Nadal (Images via X, WTA)
About two decades ago, the tennis community adored Roger Federer and was not ready to welcome a player from Mallorca who was challenging him, believes former player Andrea Petkovic. But gradually, Rafael Nadal won the hearts of his haters, and they started to root for him passionately.
Petkovic, on Substack, penned a heartfelt tribute to the 22-time Grand Slam champion after his retirement. She recalled the time when Nadal emerged on the scene and started to challenge Federer. The German explained how Nadal kept winning the hearts of the people with his fighting spirit on the court.
Nowadays, people forget how much adversity Rafa faced from audiences. People loved Roger and could not fathom a challenger as dangerous as this boy from Manacor whose whipped forehand opened the tennis court in ways thought geometrically impossible.
Andrea Petkovic wrote
Petkovic added that Nadal kept honing his skills and kept beating Federer with ‘grace and humility in his heart’. Nadal ended up winning 24 of the 40 matches he played against the Swiss maestro.
And slowly, they began to like him, increasingly they warmed to him, in the end: they loved him. Passionately. For his decency and his broken English, for the random music video where he makes out with Shakira and his humour that started to shine through once his English improved. Most of all, they loved him for his fighting spirit on court.
Andrea Petkovic added
Nadal has finally joined Federer on the retirement list. On November 19, following Nadal’s defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp and Spain’s 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup, the 38-year-old hung up his racket.
Roger Federer, along with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the three big rivals of Rafael Nadal, did not attend the farewell ceremony on Tuesday. Djokovic and Murray had previously confirmed to tournament director Feliciano Lopez that they would be present at Jose Maria Martin Carpena Sports Palace.
But as none of them were seen in the stands, it perplexed many fans, for Nadal not only was present during Federer’s final match, but he played alongside him in the 2022 Laver Cup. The reason behind their absence has been revealed as reports have emerged that the farewell ceremony was scheduled to take place on Friday as the organizers thought Spain would reach the semifinals.
Federer, Djokovic, and Murray would have arrived in Malaga on Friday morning for the farewell ceremony. But Spain’s defeat to the Netherlands ruined the plans. These three, however, wished the Spaniard for the next chapter of his life on social media.
