Nadal: 'Big respect'
Together with seven of the world's top tennis players, Nadal will gather at the O2 Arena for the ATP World Tour Finals
It seemed as if Federer had finally cracked when he just managed to get the words out: "God, it's killing me."
Federer then cried openly, as Nadal consoled his vanquished opponent. The young Spaniard had already done his best to help Federer by saying to him, "Remember you are a great champion and one of the best in history and you will beat Pete Sampras's 14 titles for sure." In his obsessive pursuit of Sampras's record number of Grand Slam victories, Federer had crashed into the muscled wall of Nadal. And yet, touchingly, Nadal felt such sympathy for the man whose dream he kept ruining.
Important moments
"For sure," he says earnestly in Paris. "He always did a very good job for our sport and he is a nice person. I have spent the most important moments of my career playing against Roger and the same is for him, too, playing against me. So we have a big respect and, off the court, we have a very good relationship."
Nadal has won 13 of their 20 matches and, most tellingly, five of his seven Grand Slam finals against Federer. In Melbourne, surely he thought he had the definitive mental edge over Federer? "No. For everybody there are tough moments. Unluckily for me, this year mine came when I arrived at the most important tournaments in the worst possible condition. You always have some ups and downs and, in that moment, Roger was a little down. But he was down in the final. It was not like he was losing in the second round. And the rest of the year he has had a lot of good moments."
Next week, at the O2 Arena in London, they will both play in the ATP World Tour Finals when the top eight men gather for one last lucrative tournament before their brief winter break.
Changes
Much has changed since Australia; the remainder of 2009 saw Nadal down and hurting while Federer was up and soaring into history. After struggling with a recurring knee injury, and his shock semifinal defeat to Robin Soderling at the French Open, Nadal was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon and spend 10 weeks at home in Manacor in Mallorca.
— Guardian News & Media Ltd
