Federer on Nadal: "You've always been a role model for the whole world".
Roger Federer has published a long message addressed to his great friend and former rival Rafael Nadal, who is about to end his career at the Davis Cup finals in the next few days.
"I keep thinking about the times we spent together. We both promoted the sport. We played this match with half a court on grass and half a court on clay.
We set a new attendance record by playing in front of over 50,000 people in Cape Town, South Africa", began the Swiss.
"I'm always grateful that you invited me to Mallorca to help you launch the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2016.
Actually, I invited myself. I knew you were too polite to insist I come, but I didn't want to miss it," he continued.
"You've always been a role model for kids all over the world. Mirka and I are delighted that our children have been able to train at your academy," Federer recalls.
"They had fun and learned an enormous amount, just like thousands of other young players, even though I always worried about my children coming home playing left-handed tennis."
As a laboratory for tomorrow’s tennis, does the Next Gen Masters have a future? 
Tennis: the little-known truths about the offseason, between rest, stress and physical survival 
What if tennis lost its soul? The case of robotized officiating, between tradition and a dehumanized modernity 
Features - Saudi Arabia, injuries, war, and business: the fascinating underbelly of tennis revealed by TennisTemple 