The now 60-year-old Swede spoke about the Spaniard’s career in a Eurosport interview. The fact that he chose the comparison to Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to describe the clay court specialist’s strengths shows how much the sporting rivalry between the three superstars was above all else.
“Roger Federer brought a special flair and of course Novak Djokovic won more than anyone else – but in my opinion no one embodied the most important thing in tennis like Rafael Nadal: passion,” explained Wilander, who won a total of seven grand titles in the 1980s won the Slam title.
The superiority of the three world-class players reads as dominant in numbers as it has felt to an observer over the past 20 years.
Federer has won a total of 20 Grand Slams since 2003, Nadal has won 22 since 2005 and Djokovic began his collection of titles in 2008 with the Australian Open – since then there have been 23 more Grand Slam successes.
Wilander: Nadal pushed Djokovic and Federer
From Wilander’s point of view, the three pushed each other to achieve top performance. “How do you create a player who can beat Nadal? Take Novak Djokovic. How do you create a player who can beat Roger Federer? Take Rafael Nadal. These two fit together so perfectly that there is ‘peace’ between Roger and Rafa disturbed,” said the Swede.
Nadal, in particular, who defeated Federer 24 times in 40 games, gave the competition a real boost. “Nadal took them all to the next level, more than anyone else – because of his passion,” said Wilander. Driving each other to achieve top performance – that is also part of Rafael Nadal’s legacy.
For the last time from November 19th to 24th, tennis audiences will have the opportunity to see one of its greatest legends live on the court. Then Nadal plays for Spain in the Davis Cup Finals.
He is looking forward to “my last appearance being the Davis Cup finals and being able to represent my country.” In the quarterfinals, Nadal and Co. have to overcome the Netherlands hurdle – Spain could face Germany in the semifinals.
Alcaraz: “I wanted to become a tennis professional because of Nadal”
