The legendary Big Three trio- Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic redefined the standards of tennis over the last two decades. Amongst these three, the tennis community loves the Fedal duo a little more, and fans always love learning more about the Fedal friendship/rivalry. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal left an indelible mark on the world of tennis and continue to impact the next generation.
The majority of Federer’s off-court philanthropy is rooted in empowering the next generation. The Swiss Maestro established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 aimed to give children the best start on their educational path by establishing educational services in a sustainable way. He inspires the next generation of tennis and recently even coached kids in a tennis clinic.
Roger Federer explains Rafael Nadal challenge
The ‘Around the World with Roger Federer’s global series launched a couple of weeks back, and the former world number one spent the day teaching kids tennis at the clinic and inspiring them. During his time in the New York tennis clinics, one of the kids posed the most important question to the legend- about the tennis player he struggled against the most.
Without any hesitation, Federer quickly replied, “I struggled against Rafa the most.” In the past two decades, the Fedal duo has played against each other 30 times, and Rafael Nadal has defeated the King of Grass in more than half of these matches. Furthermore, Roger explained that Rafael’s vicious top spin and his left-handedness made him struggle so much.
Roger Federer spent some time coaching young kids in New York
“Who was the person you struggled against the most?
Roger: “I struggled against Rafa the most. Yeah, just bc of his topspin and lefty, you know. Do you like playing against lefties?”
“No.”
Roger: “There you go” 😂 pic.twitter.com/HFukQbqEc7
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 1, 2023
Federer rejected the notion of being coach
After this magical session teaching the kids, Federer was posed with another question about if he might take up full-time coaching soon. Roger commented on how he retired just a year back, and as he enjoys his time off the tours and competition, he doesn’t see himself coaching any time soon.
He added, “At the moment with my four children going to school and everything going on, I don’t see myself coaching at the moment. If a junior comes around and he needs some support or advice I’m happy to do that.”
However, he left tennis fans dreaming about the coach Federer era as he said, “Coaching… I mean, never say never. Stefan Edberg (Roger’s former coach) said the same, he will never coach, until he got the phone call from me and I invited him over for practice and he said ‘ok, let me try for a year.”
Who do you think will need Roger as their coach? Will Rafael also become a coach in the future? Let us know what you think below!
