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Tennis: Federer hails 'historic' Nadal ahead of imminent retirement

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Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17320117633112-Composite.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">A composite photo of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. <em>Handout/Qatar Tennis Federation and Dimitar Dilkoff, AFP</em></span><em> </em></span></span></span>MALAGA, Spain -- Tennis great Roger Federer hailed his former rival Rafael Nadal on Tuesday ahead of the Spaniard&#x27;s imminent retirement from tennis at the Davis Cup.</div><p>&quot;Rafa, I have to say: What an incredible run you&#x27;ve had. Including 14 French Opens -- historic!&quot; Federer wrote on social media platform X.</p><p>&quot;You made Spain proud... you made the whole tennis world proud.&quot;</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1858774201102201276&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fnews-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring&amp;sessionId=fcb2639f6a4ceeda6facb4086c7be288a199dda4&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:393px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1858774201102201276"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>Retired Swiss star Federer and Nadal faced each other 14 times at Grand Slam tournaments with Nadal holding a 6-3 advantage in finals.</p><p>The Spaniard also had a 24-16 winning record overall in their head-to-head meetings.</p><p>&quot;You beat me -- a lot. More than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in ways no one else could,&quot; Federer, who won 20 Grand Slams, continued.</p><p>&quot;You made me reimagine my game—even going so far as to change the size of my racquet head, hoping for any edge.&quot;</p><p>Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner, will bow out from professional tennis after competing with Spain at the Davis Cup.</p><p>David Ferrer&#x27;s team face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, although it is unknown if Nadal will participate in the tie.</p><p>The 38-year-old has struggled badly with injury in the last few years, leading him to the decision to retire.</p><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABQjoq5PnKtaqZ4U&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>Federer recalled Nadal partnering him in doubles at his own retirement at the Laver Cup in 2022.</p><p>&quot;It meant everything to me that you were there by my side -- not as my rival but as my doubles partner,&quot; added Federer.</p><p>&quot;Sharing the court with you that night, and sharing those tears, will forever be one of the most special moments of my career.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/11/19/watch-nadal-trains-with-alcaraz-ahead-of-last-ever-tournament-1648">READ: &#x27;Not here for retiring&#x27;: Nadal insists focus on Davis Cup</a></div>

<p>Tennis great Roger Federer hailed his former rival Rafael Nadal on Tuesday ahead of the Spaniard's imminent retirement from tennis at the Davis Cup.</p>

Tennis great Roger Federer hailed his former rival Rafael Nadal on Tuesday ahead of the Spaniard's imminent retirement from tennis at the Davis Cup.