“You beat me – a lot. More than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in ways no one else could,” – Roger Federer penned down a heartfelt note on Rafael Nadal’s retirement. He spoke about all their fond memories of their epic rivalry and also highlighted how he looked literally unbeatable on the clay. “On clay, it felt like I was stepping into your backyard, and you made me work harder than I ever thought I could just to hold my ground,” said Federer. In a way, the Swiss Maestro believes Rafael Nadal forced him to reimagine his own game! What does Federer’s ex-coach have to say on the competitive side of Rafael Nadal?

Their rivalry started at the 2004 Miami Open! Young Nadal announced his arrival on the big stage by causing a big upset in the tournament after defeating Roger Federer by 6-3,6-3. However, Federer had the last laugh at the 2019 Wimbledon! They have faced each other 40 times in their careers and the Spaniard has a record of 24-16 over the Swiss. Paul Annacone, who was the coach of Roger Federer from 2010 to 2013, has seen Nadal very closely. What does he have to say on how difficult was it to coach Federer against someone as fierce as Nadal?

What was the toughest part of planning against Rafael Nadal? Previously Annacone, explained that it was always fun to try to sit there and problem-solve and figure out what Roger Federer could do to make Nadal more uncomfortable. However, during a recent episode of the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, he said, “He (Nadal) takes zero points off, as you know you’re not ever going to get anything free. The amazing part of it is that at the beginning of his career when he was really defensive you could attack him. He’d give you little time and space at least to breathe but as he got better he got more offensive. He got comfortable coming to the net.”

Paul Annacone further added, “But the biggest key for me is his resilience and his ability to play every single point like his life depends on it. He wouldn’t give you one point. So you have to match that intensity even if your personality doesn’t match up.” After that, the 61-year-old American coach also highlighted Rafael Nadal’s incredible record against Roger Federer. He revealed Nadal was always like a “tough question to answer” for the Swiss. 

“This guy matched Roger’s skills with his intensity” – said Annacone while heaping praise on his astonishing evolution in the tennis world. While celebrating Rafael Nadal’s incredible 23-year-long journey he didn’t forget to mention how hungry was the Spaniard to become better each season. In fact, Paul Annacone once also picked Rafael Nadal over Novak Djokovic as the “Best Competitor of All-Time“

During a conversation on the Inside-In Podcast, he said, “The best competitor of all-time in any sport I think. And you have to figure out how to conquer that, there’s no bigger challenge.” However, just a few weeks ago, we saw him making yet another interesting comment on Rafa. What did he say that time, though?

Roger Federer’s ex-coach thinks Rafael Nadal’s humility was his “downside” but at the same time he also called it his “biggest asset“

“You need to be humble enough to go through this process and accept that you need to fight, and you need to accept that you are going to suffer,” – Rafael Nadal said during the 2022 US Open. Players like Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff have previously recalled a few moments of their interaction with the Spaniard and they highlighted how humble is this 38-year-old man from Mallorca!

However, Roger Federer’s ex-coach believes being humble can be a good and a bad thing all at the same time! How? Well, during a previous conversation on the Tennis Channel’s Inside-In podcast, he said, “Rafa’s only downside was also his biggest asset. His only downside was his humility and that’s also his biggest asset. There are times where I would look at him and wonder how he didn’t actually have a bigger ego. He was always so gracious and so humble about what he’s doing that sometimes that hindered his ability to step on a court and just crush the ball.” Interestingly, despite being the ‘King of Clay’, he was never one to brag or be arrogant about anything!

Annacone believes that it’s just because of his humble nature, Nadal at times just doesn’t opt for walking on the court and ripping balls everywhere! However, Annacone didn’t forget to mention, “But again the biggest liability, if he even had one, his humility, and if you swap that for how gracious that is and what an asset that is, I’ll take that balance.” What are your thoughts on this minute observation from Roger Federer’s ex-coach?