Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem and others name their biggest rivals on tour

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem and others name their biggest rivals on tour
The Big 3

Biggest stars in men’s tennis have formed some of the most fierce rivalry amongst themselves over the years. From the classics between the ‘Big 3’ to the new hot-blooded, high-intensity clashes between the young guns- Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.

But despite having tense tussles on the court, all of them maintain a very cordial equation with one another off the court. Recently, all of them appeared in a video, released by ATP, where they answered the question, “who is your biggest rival on tour?”

Spanish star Rafael Nadal promptly named his long time rival on court, and friend outside of it, Roger Federer. “I probably have to say Roger Federer. When I started on the tour he was the best player in the world and since the beginning of my career we have been going together in the same direction,” Nadal said.

FS Video

While, World No.1 Novak Djokovic named Rafael Nadal as his biggest rival on tour.

Thiem, Schwartzman, Nishikori, Medvedev name their biggest rival

YouTube video

World No.3 Dominic Thiem answered the same question by naming Rafael Nadal and his close friend Alexander Zverev. “I (have to) pick Rafa (Nadal). Because against Rafa and Sascha (Zverev) I have played so many important matches, late matches at the Slams, at the ATP Finals or at the Masters 1000s,” Thiem said.

While Argentine Diego Schwartzman named Thiem as his biggest rival. “We played unbelievable matches, different moments. We played in his country, in my country.” Schwartzman stats.

Biggest stars in tennis

Dominic Thiem was also the choice of Alexander Zverev, who said, “We played the biggest matches we can play, we played Finals(Nitto ATP), we played the Grans Slam finals. And i do believe that we are going to play massive matches in the future.”

Japan’s Kei Nishikori named former Spanish player David Ferrer has his biggest competition. Nishikori said that Ferrer ‘gave him a lot of lessons’ during their encounters on court. Russian rising star Daniil Medvedev picked Stefanos Tsitsipas as his biggest rival. Reasoning his choice Medvedev said, ” We have had tense matches, starting from the first one. I think its a good rivalry actually.”

Also Read: ATP Cup 2021: Djokovic’s Serbia drawn in a tough group, Nadal’s Spain to face Greece and Australia in the Group stage