Roberto Bautista Agut Reveals His Toughest Opponent Out of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer

Roberto Bautista Agut brought to an end his almost two-decade career on Sunday (July 12), after shockingly announcing his retirement from professional tennis. The 38-year-old, who kicked off his pro career at the ATP tournament in Valencia in 2009, reflected on who his toughest opponent was between Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Agut had an impressive record on tour. He reached a career-high ranking of World No.9 in 2019. His best run at a Grand Slam was at Wimbledon, which coincided with his career-high ranking as he reached the semi-finals of the grass-court Grand Slam before losing to Djokovic in a thrilling four-set encounter at the Center Court at the All England Club.

The Spaniard faced Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic more than once in his career. However, he faced Djokovic 12 times, and he managed to defeat the Serbian legend only once. The last time he defeated Djokovic was at the Miami Open in 2019, in the semi-finals.

Nonetheless, Djokovic defeated Agut nine times on the court, taking their head-to-head record to 9-3 in favor of the former World No.1. But Agut didn’t enjoy the same level of success against Federer and Nadal, facing the duo nine and three times on the tour, respectively. He failed to win against either Nadal or Federer.

The last time he faced Nadal was at the 2019 Monte Carlo Masters, where the 22-time Grand Slam champion crushed him 6-1, 6-1 on the clay court. In an interview with the ATP, Agut explained that Nadal was his most difficult opponent on the court because of the 40-year-old’s unique style of play, especially on the red dirt:

Perhaps Rafa at Roland Garros. His spin, the power of his shots, they’d crash into your racquet. If you didn’t hit it properly, you’d slice it because it came with so much spin. His power, his intensity, they were all special in their own way. With Novak, it was his backhand that surprised me, how he covered the court and filled the gaps. With Roger, it was the speed, the anticipation, and his variety.

Agut last faced Federer at the 2019 Halle Open, where he forced the 20-time Grand Slam champion to a decider. But Federer found a way to beat the Spaniard, ensuring their head-to-head record was without a loss (9-0). However, it was the second time in less than a year that Agut had won one set against Federer.

Roberto Bautista Agut satisfied with the way his career ended after almost 18 years on the court

Roberto Bautista Agut played in more than 700 ATP matches on tour, winning 436 of them and losing 302. The Spaniard won just 12 titles, losing 11 finals over almost 18 seasons on tour. He broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings in 2012 and only spent four weeks outside it until May 2025.

He was one of the few players with powerful forehand shots and serves, which were the hallmark of his style of play on the court. Looking back at his career during the aforementioned interview, Agut admitted that his first goal as a professional player was to break into the top 100 in the ATP rankings:

My goal was to reach the Top 100, then the Top 50, later the Top 20 and, finally, the Top 10. It took a lot of hard work, but I managed to achieve those goals one by one. I won a title on grass, then on clay; after that, I wanted to win on hard courts and indoors as well. These were challenges I set myself and managed to overcome.

Agut won his last career title at the Antwerp Open in 2024. He won his first tour-level championship at the Libema Open ten years before his last title. Bringing an end to his career, the 38-year-old will now focus on his family and other business affairs in his home country, while also giving advice to the younger generation of players.

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