“I feel that Djokovic, Federer and myself have some fighting spirit left in us,” says Rafael Nadal on the future of the Big Three

“I feel that Djokovic, Federer and myself have some fighting spirit left in us,” says Rafael Nadal on the future of the Big Three

WhatsApp Image 2020 09 07 at 12.32.43 PM

Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal had a record-breaking 2020 season where he achieved tremendous success and milestones. The Spaniard won his 13th French Open title and equaled Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grandslam titles. Nadal also secured his 1000th ATP win at the Paris Masters after he defeated fellow Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez.

Rafael Nadal, in a recent interview with Santander Private Banking, claimed that the NextGen players like Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem are here to stay and will challenge the dominance of the Big Three which includes Djokovic, Federer and himself. However, he believes that the three of them possess the fighting spirit to carry on and will have continue to enjoy success if they remain injury-free.

“I think the thing we (Big Three) have done well is to be passionate for what we do and I think that injuries permitting both Djokovic, Federer and myself still have some fighting spirit in us left,” said Rafael Nadal.

When you reach a certain age, injuries can happen: Rafael Nadal

Andy Murray 1 1
Andy Murray suffered a career threatening injury in 2017

Rafael Nadal said that it was important for each of the Big Three players to remain injury free if they are to continue fighting for titles and shun down the challenge and threat posed by the NextGen players. He gave the example of Andy Murray, of how his career threatening hip injury has made him fall from the top of tennis.

“Murray had a really important injury and he’s the one who left the top, so when you reach these ages, these things can happen,” added Nadal. Andy Murray was in his peak form in 2016 before a hip injury hit him in 2017 and since then he has never been able to play the tennis he is capable of producing. Back in 2016, Andy Murray won the Wimbledon Championships, his second Olympic Gold Medal in Rio and also claimed his first Nitto ATP Finals title in London.

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