“He can literally make you feel like a junior” : Dominic Thiem, Denis Shapovalov and Thanasi Kokkinakis give their stance on the Federer vs Nadal debate
With Rafael Nadal now retired as well, only Novak Djokovic remains from the Big 3 still putting in fight as the world no.7 at the age of 37. The legendary trio holds a whopping 66 Grand Slam titles between them, as they have completely dominated professional tennis for the past two decades.
It is still quite impossible as fans to properly claim who the best between the three were, as all of them have arguments for themselves to be the definite greatest ever, be it Federer on the basis of eye test, Nadal sheer dominance on clay, or Djokovic’s consistency.
But professional tennis players, who have played against the Big 3 are the closest to understand the difference between them, and that was recently reflected by Dominic Thiem, Denis Shapovalov and Thanasi Kokkinakis in a discussion on UTS Tour.
The trio mainly addressed the spark difference between the two retired players, and what it was like facing against them during the heat of the battle.
“He can literally make you feel like a junior, because I played in Miami semi-finals, I beat good players, I beat [Andrey] Rublev, I beat [Frances] Tiafoe on the way there, I beat some other guys, and yeah, I felt like a junior on the court. It was insane.” Shapovalov initiated the conversation talking about Roger Federer.
“No one can make you feel more ridiculous than him. I’ve never seen him sweat, his hair just stays like that. He’s got the biggest calves ever, if he shaved his legs it would have been game over for everyone. And also he’s not even trying.” Thanasi Kokkinakis added his take about Federer.
“He’s not even trying. He is just like messing around. He’s slicing one point, hitting the next” Shapovalov added.
“At least when Rafa plays he’s grunting and you’re feeling like you’re getting pushed around. And with Nole (Djokovic) he’s just sliding and stuff.” Kokkinakis continued.
Shapovalov then began explaining the main difference between Federer and Nadal, saying that Nadal’s predictability does not matter because he has perfected every shot, while Federer looks like he never breaks a sweat even during the pressure moments.
“But to me, they’re so different. I felt like Rafa was so predictable. You knew exactly what he’s going to do but he’s just so good at it that you can’t do anything right?”
“But Roger, you feel like okay I’m going to play full heavy spin on his backhand, I think that’s good. And then first point you play a really good one to his backhand, and he steps in and he goes down the line.” Thiem also added about playing against Federer.
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal head-to-head
Although looking at stats might not tell the full story, it does give a basic retrospect on how the duo have fared against each other over time. For starters, the Swiss has 103 ATP Tour-level titles, 11 more than the Spainard.
While Federer dominated the proceedings in the 2000s, it was Nadal who was able to overcome the 20-time Grand Slam champion more often than not in the latter years.
Overall, this iconic duo has met 40 times, with the Spainard having the lead over the Swiss 24-16.
But again, as we saw from how the professionals described Roger Federer, one would think that the Swiss is out of this world, almost having a god-like presence on the court. While Nadal and Djokovic have gotten the better of the Swiss from time to time, when he was at his best, he was basically unplayable.
But probably the best thing coming out of this long running rivalry was the friendship and mutual respect shared over the years. In no other sport has it happened that two rivals, at the top of their game, are this close together and their friendship is admired among all tennis fans. One of the most emotional moments in sports history have also involved this duo; when during Federer’s retirement in the 2022 Laver Cup, the duo was seen crying together.
