‘Beating Roger Federer record is not a priority for me,’ insists Rafael Nadal

ATP Tour
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Finishing his career with more Grand Slam titles than long-time rival Roger Federer is not a priority for Rafael Nadal, the Spaniard has insisted.

The duo, along with current world number one Novak Djokovic have been locked together at the top of the men’s game for over a decade, and it has often been suggested that they have pushed each other to greatness.

Federer currently leads the way on the Grand Slam count with 20 titles to his name, but both Nadal (18) and Djokovic (15) are sufficiently younger to harbour realistic aims of surpassing him.

However, speaking in an interview on the ATP website, Nadal has revealed that he is “not obsessed” with it, and it won’t rankle with him should he fail to achieve it.

“My goal is just to be happy,” he said. “I’ve achieved much more than I ever dreamed as I’ve said a lot of time already.

“That’s my real goal honestly. Stay healthy and if I’m healthy normally I enjoy playing tennis.

“And if I am able to combine these two things then normally I have my chances to fight for the most important things.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal PA

“So my goal is to play what I like to play.

“Play as good as possible and as long as possible and then we’ll see in terms of results how far I am able to go.

“But it is something I am not obsessed about. I’m just happy about the way I did.

“Of course I would love to have more than him but honestly it is not my approach with this stuff.

“If it happens, fantastic. But my point of view is to keep producing chances to be competitive in the most important events and maybe I am able to win a couple more.”

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Rafael Nadal Roger Federer

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