The tennis legends set aside their rivalries to honor Rafael Nadal’s incredible legacy in an emotional ceremony at the French Open.
New Delhi [India], May 26 – Tennis legends Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray paid a heartfelt tribute to Rafael Nadal at a special farewell ceremony at Roland Garros on Sunday. The ceremony, held at Court Philippe-Chatrier, honored the 14-time French Open champion’s extraordinary legacy on the clay courts of Paris, according to the ATP Tour.
Before joining Nadal on court for an embrace, the trio shared a touching video message to the packed stadium. “Hi Rafa, after all these years and all these fights, we couldn’t let you leave like that. We really wanted to leave you a message and let you know your old pals will always be with you,” they said.
Nadal’s dominance at Roland Garros is unparalleled. The Spaniard never lost to Federer there, winning all six of their head-to-head clashes, including three consecutive finals from 2006 to 2008. Against Djokovic, he leads 8-2 at the French Open, and he also holds a perfect record against Murray in Paris.
On court, Nadal reflected on the evolution of these storied rivalries and the new perspective retirement has given him.
“After all these years fighting for everything, it is unbelievable how time changes the perspective of everything,” Nadal said. “You don’t know yet, Novak—probably you know already, Andy—but with Roger, we have talked about this a couple of times. All these nerves, pressure, strange feelings when you see each other as rivals… it is completely different when you finish your career.”
He continued, “Now it’s all about being happy about everything we achieved. In the end, we all achieved our dreams. We became tennis players and played on the most important stages. We built amazing rivalries in a good way, showing the world we could fight as hard as possible but still respect each other as colleagues.”
Nadal concluded with a message of camaraderie and gratitude: “You gave me some hard times on court, but I really enjoyed it a lot—pushing myself to the limit every day to compete with all of you. In the end, tennis is just a game, and to have all of you here means everything. It’s a great message to the world that we can be good friends even if we had the best rivalries.”