Moya on the Nadal-Federer rivalry: "Rafa was more motivated than ever to take the world number one spot".

Now retired, Rafael Nadal left his mark on tennis. Carlos Moya looks back on one of the greatest rivalries in the sport's history.

In the mid-2000s, when the Spaniard was world number 2, he had only one opponent left in his path: Roger Federer.

The Swiss was the undisputed champion at the time. Carlos Moya looks back at the steps that led the Majorcan to finally reach the top of the ATP rankings in August 2008.

"For almost four years, Federer was the best player in the world without interruption. But at the beginning of 2008, Rafa was hungrier and more motivated than ever: he wanted to top the rankings.

His quest began in Monte Carlo, at the start of the European clay-court season.

At the end of a perfect tournament, he beat Federer in the final and triumphed for the fourth time in a row," he explains to Super Tennis.

"Tournament after tournament, Nadal was in pursuit of Federer. Rafa beat the Swiss in Hamburg and at Roland Garros, then in the final at Wimbledon.

It was an epic match between the two best players in the world, considered by many to be the best match of all time.

Once again, Federer had lost. First place in the rankings was now within reach. Three weeks later, Nadal won the Masters 1000 in Toronto before taking Olympic gold in Beijing.

Federer's record-breaking run was over. After 160 consecutive weeks as number 2, he had finally reached the pinnacle of world tennis," concludes Moya.