THROWBACK: When Rafael Nadal Made Fun of Marc Lopez

Rafael Nadal made fun of his compatriot Marc Lopez as he suggested that the former world No.3 doubles player prefers to partner with Feliciano Lopez rather than himself.

In an interview in 2017, Marc Lopez was asked about whom he prefers to play doubles with, Rafael Nadal or Feliciano Lopez having Nadal sitting beside him.

Rafael Nadal replied laughingly, “He better says Feliciano, he’s his boss now.”

Nadal further answered the question for Lopez while poking fun at him. He said: “I can answer that: he had to play with me in Beijing and ended up ditching me for Tokyo so that can answer it. Life is like this. I just wanted to spare him having to answer.”

However, Marc Lopez explained that he would play better partnering with Rafael Nadal. He praised the 19-time Grand Slam champion and said: “In the end, Rafa is one of a kind when it comes to the tough moment you know that next to you is the best player of the world.” 

Nadal shyly replied in a sarcastic way, “Yeah, sure”

Marc Lopez then further explicated the difference between Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez. He said: “He play very differently, Feli has a great serve and volley, Rafa is more of a baseliner, which we have common, that’s all we have in common.”

Lopez then picked his choice between the two Spanish left-handers and revealed: “So if you ask me who I rather play with, who I play better with, I believe that with Rafa, since obviously he is a better player than Feli. But you know, never mind what I just said, I love playing with Feli.”

Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez paired up for Spain at the Rio Olympics 2016, where the pair went on to clinch the gold medal, beating Romania’s Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau in the finals.