“Many more to come,” Rafael Nadal teases Novak Djokovic about future collaboration after Serbian’s retirement tribute

Rafael Nadal teased Novak Djokovic about future collaboration after the Serbian paid tribute to the Spaniard after his retirement announcement.

“Many more to come,” Rafael Nadal teases Novak Djokovic about future collaboration after Serbian’s retirement tribute

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (via IMAGO)

Rafael Nadal broke the hearts of tennis fans all over the world by announcing his retirement from the sport. The former World No. 1 received a heartfelt tribute from his rival Novak Djokovic on social media. Nadal recently replied to the message, teasing the Serbian about a future collaboration.

The deep respect Djokovic and Nadal have for each other transcends the mere competition on the court. Djokovic perfectly captured this in his retirement to Nadal tribute on social media on Thursday (October 10).

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The 37-year-old praised Nadal in a lengthy post, highlighting the Spaniard’s rivalry tole in his career.

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Your legacy will live forever. Only you know what you had to endure to become an icon of tennis and sport in general. Thank you for pushing me to the very limit so many times in our rivalry that has impacted me the most as a player.

Novak Djokovic wrote on X

Of the thousands of messages to Nadal, the Spaniard took his time to reply to Djokovic’s tribute. He teased the Serbian about future collaboration on the court or off-court.

Thanks Nole. Many things we’ve lived and many more to come.

Rafael Nadal wrote on Instagram

Djokovic and Nadal met 60 times on the court, with the former leading 31-29 in their head-to-head record. They last met at the Paris Olympics in August, where the Serbian beat Nadal in the second round of the singles.

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Novak Djokovic comes through after “tough battle” with Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters

Novak Djokovic moved a step closer to winning his 100th career title after beating Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters. The 37-year-old had to extinguish Mensik’s audacity and fire in the second and third sets of the match.

Novak Djokovic (4)
Novak Djokovic (Image via X)

Mensik looked on fire in the first set, pushing Djokovic to the limit. However, Djokovic bounced back in the second set and then went on to win the third set too. Despite dropping his first set in Shanghai, Djokovic defeated the 19-year-old 6(4)-7, 6-1, 6-4. He later admitted that it was a tough battle.

It was a tough battle. We went toe to toe until the last moment, I was fortunate to find great serves in the last game.

Novak Djokovic said (via Eurosport)
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Djokovic is aiming to reach his first ATP Masters final of the season. Before that, he will face American Taylor Fritz in the semifinals.