Nadal on Federer: "For me, Roger played the best tennis of his career in 2017"
Rafael Nadal opens up to Andy Roddick. The former American champion recently hosted the Spaniard on his podcast, where they discussed a wide range of topics.
One of the key topics was his rivalry with Roger Federer. The Spaniard, who lost to the Swiss in the 2017 Australian Open final after an exceptional five-set match, praised Federer, who made a remarkable comeback in early 2017 following knee surgery after Wimbledon in 2016.
"The rivalry with Roger was perhaps more attractive for the fans. The strategy was clearer for me when I played against him. I knew I had to keep him as far away from the ball as possible, but Roger tried everything to avoid that. His forehand is the best I've ever faced.
Often, it was like a game of chess. Everyone knew the strategy we were going to adopt on the court. At the beginning of our careers, I beat him more often on clay than on hard courts, but later I managed to beat him more frequently on hard courts as well. But I would say that towards the end of his career, he took a step forward. He played much more aggressively.
From my perspective, he made some mistakes against me early in his career. He always tried to use his backhand with topspin. That gave me the opportunity to keep hitting forehands against his backhand.
Towards the end of his career, he started taking more risks. Honestly, for me, Roger played the best tennis of his career in 2017. It felt like we were in his hands.
Of course, on hard courts, because on clay it was a bit different. But overall, his serve was harder to read. It was really difficult to anticipate what he was going to do," he said.
