“After that match, he changed his way of facing Nadal”

Federer had been out for six months due to a knee injury; Nadal, for his part, had also been away from the courts due to a problem with his left wrist. The umpteenth parallelism between two unique races, but which complement each other, making it difficult to understand each other separately. The Swiss, after lifting a break in the fifth and final set, was proclaimed champion at the 2017 Australian Open, his 18th Grand Slam, the first since Wimbledon 2012. Tension until the end, with a review included in the last point of the match, screams and tears. Rafa, faithful to his way of being, recognized the achievement of his eternal rival and friend. “Perhaps Roger deserved this title more than me,” he assured.

It was Federer’s 11th victory over Nadal. Until that moment, his face-to-face had been a very favorable 10-23 for the Balearic Islands. Since then, and until the semifinals of Wimbledon 2019, their last direct confrontation, the tally went to a more even 16-24. “After that match, he changed his way of dealing with Nadal,” reveals Ivan Ljubicic, Roger’s last coach, whom he met during a Futures when he was 17 years old and the Swiss, 15. “I think that after that match he felt more and more confident, he began to be aware that he had it in his racket, something that he did not feel against Rafa on previous occasions. He began to believe more and also changed on a tactical level”, he continues in The Tennis Podcast. “Roger accepted Nadal’s need to play more to the forehand, flattening his backhand, staying focused on the ball, not the opponent. When I saw Roger in the fifth set, despite being 3-1 down, I was calm because he was playing the right way, the opportunity was going to come.”add in Tennis Majors.

One of 40 episodes between the two legends. Another, the semifinals of Roland Garros 2019, Nadal’s last victory over Federer, who took seven of the last eight duels between the two. “I know I am a perfectionist, but I am very sorry about that match. It was so windy that the encounter was not real. I would have liked to see it in normal conditions. I’m not saying that he would have won Roger, but I do think that, at that stage, he felt powerful enough to hurt Rafa on clay. On other surfaces, the results are there, that’s how he began to feel it ”, analyzes Ljubicic about him. In those complicated conditions, very cold and the aforementioned wind, which even caused sandstorms on the track, the Spanish player was herculean, overwhelming (6-3, 6-4 and 6-2), also true to his way of being: unbeatable on a mental level. Harder than Swiss chic.

The GOAT debate

The signs of identity of one and the other, the characteristics of a difficult duel to decant. Even more, with the necessary inclusion of Novak Djokovic in the eternal debate. “I don’t know what the criteria should be, but I don’t think there is a clear answer. What does it mean to ‘be the greatest’? Is the most successful the biggest or does it go the other way? Roger, Novak and Rafa, the three of them have done things that will never be achieved in the future, They have taken this sport to an amazing height, so there is no reason to look for the GOAT answer, ”Ljubicic analyzes, unable to decide. “Any of the three can be the GOAT, what is clear is that their achievements are totally sick”, he concludes. The only possible answer.