“My world collapsed” Rafael Nadal REVEALS the most difficult point of his career
Follow Us
Rafael Nadal
Former World No. 1 and currently ranked 5th in the world, Rafael Nadal is the only man on the planet to have won 21 Grand Slam titles. Having won his first-ever Grand Slam title at the 2005 French Open and won his 21st at the 2022 Australian Open. During the course of his career since turning Pro in 2001, Nadal has broken multiple records over the course of his career and continues to do so even after two decades.
Nadal’s win in Australia made him just the 4th man in history to win all the majors more than once. Nadal has 13 French Open titles (2005-2008, 2010-2014, 2017-2020), 4 US Open titles (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019), 2 Australian Open titles (2009, 2022) and two titles at the Wimbledon Championships (2008, 2010).
During a recent interview at the Rafa Nadal Academy, Nadal was asked about the toughest point of his illustrious career. With many record-breaking wins under his belt, the interviewer must have thought the Spaniard would need to think about it. But the Spaniard was quick to answer and called out an interesting point during the 2008 Wimbledon Finals that is often called as one of the greatest tennis match ever.
Nadal was up against fierce rival Roger Federer and the pair had won 14 of the last 16 majors till the 2008 Wimbledon. This was the third successive Wimbledon finals that the two were contesting with Federer having won both the previous finals and was the 5-time defending champion. After a battle of 4 hours and 48 minutes, Nadal won his first-ever Wimbledon title 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(7), 6–7(10), 9–7.
“It was during the Wimbledon final in 2008. It was Roger Federer’s backhand passing during the tie-break in the fourth set, on match point. I serve outside, he returns sliced in the middle of the court, an easy shot to play. For me, winning Wimbledon was a dream, especially after losing two finals.
“When I hit that forehand, I did something I never do. I thought: “I just won Wimbledon”. I hit that forehand, and bam, long line passing, it all fell apart, my world collapsed,” said Nadal during the interview smiling and remembering the epic match that he shared with one of his closest rival and now friend on the court.
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal in Grand Slam finals
The two rival turned friends have met so far in 9 Grand Slam finals so far in their careers. They have met in two Australian Open finals, three Wimbledon finals and 4 French Open finals. Nadal defeated Federer in the 2009 Australian Open finals while Federer avenged it in the 2017 Australian Open finals with both the finals going into the 5th set.
In the three Wimbledon finals they contested in 2006, 2007 and 2008, Federer won the first two meetings in 2006 and 2007 having lost the French Open finals against Nadal in both 2006 and 2007. All three Wimbledon finals went into the 5th set decider. After the 2008 Wimbledon finals, the two never contested another Wimbledon finals but met in the semi-finals of the 2019 Wimbledon where Federer won before finishing as the runner-up.
Nadal has won all 4 of their French Open finals (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011) with 3 of those meetings ending in 4-sets while Nadal demolished Federer in the 2008 French Open finals winning the finals 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. The duo met in the French Open for the last time in the semi-finals of the 2019 French Open when Nadal again won in straight-sets on his way to the title. Nadal leads Federer 6-3 in Grand Slam finals.
Stay Updated!
Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)