Rafael Nadal blames his ignorance as reason for not congratulating Novak Djokovic, reveals being in constant touch with Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
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Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. (credits: Essentially Sports, The Economic Times)
22-time Grand Slam title winner Rafael Nadal has been out of action for quite some time now and his competitor and longtime rival, Novak Djokovic, has made the most of the advantage and leapfrogged him in terms of Slams. Novak enjoyed his 24th Grand Slam title last week after beating Daniil Medvedev in the final of the US Open and Nadal was asked to comment on the Serbian’s road to glory in a recent interview.
At the Movistar prime time interview on Monday, Nadal stated how he still hasn’t congratulated Novak on his new record and feels that there is plenty of time in the future to wish him. Rafael Nadal blames his ignorance as a reason for not congratulating Novak Djokovic, revealing being in constant touch with Roger Federer.
Nadal said, “The truth is that I haven’t sent any message to Djokovic yet out of pure ignorance. When you win something so important, from experience I know it’s better to take the time to appreciate that message. I’ll send it but I haven’t done it yet.“
Nadal edged past Novak in terms of Grand Slams last year at the Roland Garros but since then it has been a dark phase for the Spaniard who has been recovering from his injuries keeping him out of all the Grand Slams since his Wimbledon semi-final walkover last year. Nadal also put him above Djokovic in terms of greatness saying, “I missed four and a half years of Grand Slams due to injury, this is the reality. But that’s also sport. That’s not why I’m better than Djokovic, because I played less.“
Rafael Nadal states that he is quite specific when it comes to congratulating players:
Nadal went on to reveal his reason behind excluding Novak from the list of players whom he loves congratulating. Nadal revealed how he went on to congratulate his countrymen and young tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz on his recent successes. He said, “Of course, I sent messages to Alcaraz when he won or when he was about to win. The others… on the circuit I don’t have many friends left, I’m from another generation. I talk to Federer every now and then.
It’s not a secret that Nadal doesn’t love getting attached to too many tennis stars and is very selective about his liking for a particular star. Considering his age, Nadal is set to turn 38 in a few months, he doesn’t quite have many friends left in the business and the majority of them already retired. He shared that Roger Federer is among the very few list of retired players still in touch with him.
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Soumyadeep Mondal
(882 Articles Published)