And the final big match has arrived: Nadal and Djokovic say goodbye forever…

Rafa Nadal he will play this Saturday one of the last big games which remains to be played before the racket is hung up. A few weeks ago, he confirmed what was an open secret: when 2024 ends, he will retire from active sports. It will be the Davis Cup where he will play for the last timea competition in which he will wear the shirt of the Spanish National Team to try to say goodbye in the best possible way. And, while that time is coming, the sooner you have it his last duel against Novak Djokovic.

In the last two decades, three tennis players have dominated the sports scene. Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic lived there a rivalry rarely seen in sports. Any specialty has heroes and villains, protagonists and antagonists who are loved by some and reviled by others. But the three best tennis players in history have coexisted in the same generation will cause legendary conflicts remember the whole story.

It was in 2022, when everything broke. Federer was the first to announce his retirement and, with this, a historical era came to an end. The Swiss chose the Laver Cup as their farewell tournament, and none of the best tennis players missed the event. It was the finishing touch the doubles match between Nadal and Federer: That emotional moment, the last Switzerland, will be remembered forever. As much as Federer and Nadal’s tears they poured as they clapped their hands in the interesting farewell.

Two years later, It’s Nadal’s turnwhich is He has been making his tour worthy of a farewell all season. Barcelona, ​​​​​​Madrid, Roland Garros and the Olympic Games will no longer see the best Spanish athlete in history. And, before his final farewell in Malaga, fate had an unexpected twist for him: a match against Djokovic at Six Kings Slam which, although for show, will be the last of two greats in tennis history. And there will be no tears this time.

Jannik Sinner’s influence on the Serbian and Alcaraz on the Balearic Islands, which eventually led to a conflict between the two in Saudi Arabia. It will be an exciting match, in which two players who have been fighting arm to arm for two decades, against each other, They face each other in one final twist of the script which allows sportsmen to enjoy the final stage of a great competition… that It never turned into a relationship.as happened with Federer.

Nadal and Djokovic are two winners, one of which is they never give up and of which the chase is not very familiar. But the two have a very different way of approaching the sport: for the Spaniard, not everything involves winning at all costs, while the Serbian a player who does not know how to endure the frustration of losing. And, of course, Absence understand that They could never be friends with Nadalsince he was the main competitor he had to beat to go down in history.

Infographic with statistics of Nadal vs. Federer and Djokovic. (The European Press)

It was Djokovic himself who made the feeling between the two clear interview in Corriere della Sera: “At first, we were going to dinner together, but, even with Nadal, friendship is impossible. We were never friendly, because between rivals you can’tbut we were no longer enemies. “At the beginning of my career, when he kicked my ass on the court, I knew my limits. But when I started to win matches, everything changed,” he said.

Not long ago, Nadal also spoke about it Absence in Movistar+: “I don’t feel anything when I see Djokovic win. I think it would have been difficult for him not to be the player with the most titles.. And maybe that is why he has achieved it, he has taken his ambition to the highest level. And I’ve had it too, but healthy,” he said. This past Saturday, after two decades of conflict, The final point of one of the great competitions in sports has arrived. Can they be friends from now on?

Rafa Nadal he will play this Saturday one of the last big games which remains to be played before the racket is hung up. A few weeks ago, he confirmed what was an open secret: when 2024 ends, he will retire from active sports. It will be the Davis Cup where he will play for the last timea competition in which he will wear the shirt of the Spanish National Team to try to say goodbye in the best possible way. And, while that time is coming, the sooner you have it his last duel against Novak Djokovic.

In the last two decades, three tennis players have dominated the sports scene. Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic lived there a rivalry rarely seen in sports. Any specialty has heroes and villains, protagonists and antagonists who are loved by some and reviled by others. But the three best tennis players in history have coexisted in the same generation will cause legendary conflicts remember the whole story.