Despite shedding tears together at the ongoing Laver Cup in London, the bromance between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer did not commence from the very beginning of their professional careers in tennis.
In fact, the Spanish superstar even shared a lot of explosive things regarding his Swiss counterpart, which may seem ridiculous at the present, but Rafael Nadal criticism actually caught the headlines a long time ago.
What actually happened between Roger Federer and El Nino on the Rafael Nadal criticism issue?
Rafael Nadal, the King of Clay, is regarded as one of the sport’s humblest competitors, and on the tennis court, he has seldom ever engaged in any tantrums or verbal combat. Along the course of his tennis career, he was also renowned for always honoring his opponents in any situation whatsoever, but history reminds us that the 22-time-Grand Slam winner also lost his temper in the early stages of his career.
Respectively, Nadal and Roger Federer, a competitor and personal friend, had had a quarrel and the Spanish player shocked the tennis community and the media when he fought with the legendary Swiss player on some off the court issue in connection with professional players’ welfare.
In 2012, Nadal spoke out against the crowded tennis calendar, which was having a negative impact on the players’ ability to stay healthy. However, his good buddy Roger Federer did not participate in the player’s protest of the participant’s complaints. As a direct consequence of this, Nadal mocked Federer’s strategy for dealing with the packed tennis calendar for his contemporaries in the sport of professional tennis.
Rafael Nadal afterwards made the allegation against Federer by quoting, “For him it’s good to say nothing. Everything positive. ‘It’s all well and good for me, I look like a gentleman,’ and the rest can burn themselves.” This statement proved the initial hard feelings Nadal used to possess against the Swiss maestro, but their relationship turned on another level a few years later.
He went on to grouse about how his hectic schedule was affecting his fitness levels and how it was making him feel unfit. Additionally, he cited his fellow tennis players, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, who may have been experiencing comparable challenges with their respective playing schedules in those years.
Even though Nadal and Federer, two of the greatest tennis players of all time, sometimes butted heads, the argument seldom lingered for very long, and the two tennis greats stayed faithful friends throughout their respective tennis careers.
