Roger Federer already knows the pensioner tennis life – will Rafael Nadal soon follow?
IMAGO/USA TODAY Network
How long will Rafael Nadal continue to play tennis? Even Roger Federer can’t answer that question. The Swiss still have one wish.
Tennis legend Roger Federer is advising his good friend and arch-rival Rafael Nadal not to delay his retirement forever. “Time eats you. In the end, it would be useful to make a decision at another time. And when it’s over, you just relax and say: Oh, luckily there are no trainings, luckily there are no more matches,” said the 43-year-old to the German Press Agency on the sidelines of the Laver Cup, which he helped launch in Berlin. .
Federer ended his career at Nadal’s side two years ago in the men’s Ryder Cup in golf. Now the 38-year-old Mallorcan, who canceled the event in Berlin, is also completing his career. It is not known whether another injury is the reason for his absence from the German capital. “I was hoping that eventually he would get a championship, but he just said he can’t and he can’t and he’s not ready,” Federer said.
Federer’s wishes
The world number one is looking forward to the next weeks and months of Nadal with great interest. “But he sounds good. I think he has to decide now what to do and I think that’s the time he’s facing at the moment,” said the 20-year-old Grand Slam winner and promoted Nadal as a tennis legend: “He did everything in the game. It would be amazing if he could wait for the season another, but only Rafa can answer for himself.”
Nadal’s last appearance on the Grand Slam stage in his home state at Roland Garros was when he lost to German tennis star Alexander Zverev in three sets in the first round of the French Open in Paris at the end of May. At the Olympics, the Spaniard lost in the second round against his old rival and champion Novak Djokovic.
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