"If Roger Federer wasn’t such a nice guy, I would've hated him" - James Blake jokingly revisits being crushed by Swiss in Shanghai Masters 2006 final
Roger Federer was hilariously forgiven by former tennis player James Blake for crushing him in the finals of the 2006 Shanghai Masters. Blake's comment was prompted by a picture of the duo that did the rounds on social media with a 'same-day-that-year' trivia of the match that took place on November 19, 2006.
The American had enjoyed one of his best seasons in 2006 reaching a career-high ranking of World No. 4. He defeated defending champion David Nalbandian in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters that year to set up the summit clash with Roger Federer.
The Swiss maestro was virtually untouchable at the time, concluding one of his finest seasons in 2006 with a win-loss record of 92–5.
A post detailing Federer's 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 title win at the 2006 Shangai Masters on X caught Blake's attention. He commented on a picture of the duo at the net and joked:
"Clearly the “before” pic since I was still smiling. If he wasn’t such a nice guy, I would have hated him for what he did to me that day."
Former tennis player John Isner also chimed in to tease his compatriot:
"Yeah. You got crushed."
Roger Federer was at the peak of his career at the time having won the 2006 Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. He suffered his only defeat at a Grand Slam final that year at the hands of Rafael Nadal who lifted the second of his record 14 French Open trophies in 2006.
They were the early days of a rivalry that lasted over two decades and saw Federer and Nadal claim 20 and 22 Grand Slams respectively.
Roger Federer pens hearfelt note for Rafael Nadal ahead of Spaniard's final tournament
Rafael Nadal announced the 2024 Davis Cup as the final outing of his career via a video post on Instagram in October. Shortly before the tournament began on November 19, Roger Federer wrote a heartfelt farewell note for his arch-rival turned friend of 15 years.
Federer took to X to look back on the memories he shared with Nadal.
"Vamos, Rafa! As you get ready to graduate from tennis, I’ve got a few things to share before I maybe get emotional. start with the obvious: you beat me—a lot. More than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in ways no one else could. 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. You made me reimagine my game—even going so far as to change the size of my racquet head, hoping for any edge," read an excerpt from Federer farewell note for Nadal.
Rafael Nadal lost to Botic van de Zanschulp in the final match of his career yesterday. However, the outcome made little difference to an emotional home crowd as they saw the Spaniard take his last bow.