‘Rafael Nadal overachieved more than anybody’, claims tennis legend in Roger Federer comparison
Mats Wilander proclaimed that Rafael Nadal “overachieved more than anybody” in tennis as he lauded the Spanish legend following his retirement announcement.
The former world No 1 stressed that Nadal is “unbelievably talented”, but argued his great rival Roger Federer was more gifted “in terms of technique.”
Nadal revealed on Thursday he will call time on his glittering career after competing for Spain at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next month.
In a video shared on his social media accounts, Nadal said: “Hello everyone, I’m here to let you know that I am retiring from professional tennis.
“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two years especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations. It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make.
“But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end. And I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”
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Wilander admitted he could not believe the “nightmare” news at first, but recognised the Davis Cup will be a fitting farewell event for Nadal.
“My first reaction to Rafa announcing that is that I’m still asleep,” the Swede told Eurosport.
“Waking up to that is obviously a nightmare for all of us that love tennis. But we’ve been waiting and expecting it to happen. It was just a matter of when it was going to happen.
“I guess the Davis Cup is so close to Rafa’s heart, so close to most of our hearts. There’s a team spirit there, and you could celebrate with your team, win or lose.
“I understand the decision for Rafa to stop there. But it’s a sad day for tennis in general. He brought so much passion to the sport.”
The seven-time Grand Slam champion also argued Nadal overachieved because of his competitive spirit.
“Rafa, you could talk about overachievers. To me, he overachieved a little bit with all the injuries that he had,” Wilander assessed.
“He’s unbelievably talented, of course, in terms of feel and understanding of the game. But in terms of technique, maybe someone like Roger Federer is more talented and, therefore, maybe, should have done better in terms of results.
“That’s what people think. We overlook the passion and the competitive spirit that Rafa brought every single day. So even on that day against Novak [Djokovic] at the [Paris] Olympics, he’s trying as hard as he can.
“And at some point, the belief fully disappeared because of physical reasons, emotional reasons. Who knows? Age, of course, is the biggest factor.
“So he’s given everything. He’s overachieved. That puts him in a category, to me, on his own, because he’s overachieved more than anybody. He’s such a great competitor.”
Nadal sits second on the all-time men’s Grand Slam title list with 22, while Federer sits third on 20.
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