“I have always wished that this day would not come”

The swiss Roger Federerwinner of twenty Grand Slams, celebrated the career of Rafael Nadal and assured that it has been “an absolute honor” to have competed against him.

Federer, who announced his retirement in 2022, reacted to Nadal’s farewell video, which will put an end to his career in the next Finals of the Davis Cup in Malaga from November 19 to 24

“What a career, Rafa. I have always wished that this day would not come. Thank you for the unforgettable memories and for all your achievements in the sport we love. It has been an absolute honor,” said the Swiss.

Federer and Nadal completed one of the most beautiful rivalries in the history of sport, facing each other forty times, with 24 victories for the Spanish and 16 for the Swiss.

To remember are their duels at Roland Garros, their three finals at Wimbledon, including the one in 2008, considered the best match in history, as well as the legendary image they left in the 2022 Laver Cup in London, the last tournament in the Federer’s career, in which both ended up crying holding hands.

John McEnroe watched, perplexed, from the BBC broadcast booth, what was happening on Center Court at Wimbledon on the afternoon of July 6, 2008. ‘Big Mac’ knew what he was talking about when he said that the match he was watching was “the best in history”because he had had the honor of holding that “honorary record” since he faced Bjorn Borg in the Wimbledon final in 1980.

On one side was Federer, champion of the last five editionswrapped in a white cloak, brushed with golden touches, on the other that ‘vintage’ Rafael Nadal, with long hair, a sleeveless shirt and pirate pants. Contender the last two years, closing the field with the Swiss, who had lost one set in the 2006 final and two in the 2007 final.

“I have no doubt that that was the best game in history,” McEnroe certified after the 4 hours and 48 minutes that lasted that final and that began with the great Manolo Santana greeting both players on the center court of Wimbledon.

But marking the start of that meeting on July 6, 2008 is a mistake. That final began to be played and decided a month before, on the clay of Roland Garros, when Nadal destroyed Federer 6-1, 6-3 and 6-0. His best victory in a Grand Slam final and the Swiss’s biggest defeat. The Spaniard, after three years in second place in the ranking, was about to surpass him on the throne and Paris was just the beginning of a magical summer in which Nadal conquered everything.

Federer, who did not lose a single set until the final, knew that he no longer had any margin for error and that the opportunity to be the only man in history to win six Wimbledons in a row, something that even Borg got it, it was going to be the last.

Nadal, unlike previous years, won the first set 6-4 and came back from 1-4 in the second. He had a two-set advantage, 6-4 and 6-4, against the man who was chasing the record of 14 Grand Slams in Sampras and the greatest dominator of the herb since the American.

And it started to rain. The match was suspended in the third set, with 5-4 for Federer, and after resuming after an hour and twenty minutes of delay, The Swiss won the tie break to close the gap.

In the fourth tiebreaker, Nadal had his first championship ball, after a passing shot at Federer’s run. The number one, with the crown almost on the ground, responded with another backhand passing shot to equalize the tie break and at the same time the match. They were the two best shots of the tournament and were played consecutively and with the title at stake.

When the game was suspended again, around 8:00 p.m. London timeit seemed practically impossible for the game to end. It should be remembered that the retractable roof of the center court was not installed until 2009, a year later.

With the darkness Eating the grass and the only lighting from the photographers’ flashes, Nadal defeated Federer 9-7 at 9:15 p.m. Pascal Maria, the chair umpire for the match, warned at 7-7 that if the match did not end in the next two games, the final would resume on Monday.

A young 15-year-old Nadal, champion of 14 Roland Garros in the future, was asked on Tele Vigo which tournament he would prefer to win: “Wimbledon,” said the Spaniard, who had just realized his dream after a forehand into Federer’s net.

Two years later, Nadal repeated the feat, but with a little less epicness, seeing himself not with Federer in the final, but with the weak Thomas Berdychgreat player, but without the makings of a Grand Slam champion.