Paula Badosa: I will never have a rivalry like that of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer
Exactly a week ago, Roger Federer was gearing up to enter the tennis court as a professional player for the last time at the 2022 Laver Cup. Playing for Team Europe, he teamed up with his long-time friend Rafael Nadal and lost a close encounter to Team World's Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock.
The moments that followed were extraordinary, with the Swiss legend crying like a kid while acknowledging and addressing the spectators at the O2 Arena in London. Nadal also failed to hold back his emotions as he sat next to Federer and the two wept together.
Another Spanish star, Paula Badosa, was recently asked how she felt watching the 20-time Grand Slam champion's farewell. Speaking on the Spanish radio sports program El Larguero, the World No. 3 stated that she found it beautiful for the 20-time Grand Slam champion to have his biggest rivals with him during those moments and that the entire celebration was "super emotional."
"It was very emotional. I think it made it more beautiful to be among rivals for so many years. For me it was something super emotional. But of course, he is a perfect athlete," Badosa said.
One day, we'll tell them that we lived in the time of Federer and Nadal. And there wasn't ever a finer time to be around. https://t.co/g8EgwUzsi4
Interviewer Manu Carreno then asked the 24-year-old star to select a player with whom she would like to play her last match, whenever it happens. She stated that although she didn't have a rivalry like the one between the Swiss maestro and Nadal, she would choose Belarusia's Aryna Sabaalenka since she was her closest friend on the tour.
"I don't know, I will never have a rivalry like that of Rafa and Roger. At the moment I don't have a rivalry like that, but out of friendship, Aryna Sabalenka," she added.
"Once you reach 5-7 Majors, you can start talking about it" - Roger Federer on if Carlos Alcaraz can win 20 GS titles
Addressing questions from the media recently, Roger Federer was asked if he thought the new sensation in the tennis world, Carlos Alcaraz, had the ability to go beyond 20 Grand Slam titles.
The Swiss icon stated that he would rather wait for any player to win five or seven Majors first, and then think about a big number like 20 instead of pressurizing a player in the early stages of his career.
“You don’t want to have that price tag, ‘you’re the one who’s going to win 20-plus’. I think that’s not fair because nobody can predict that type of number. Once you reach maybe five, seven, you can say like, ‘Okay, now we can start talking. But we never talked about 20 with me. We always talked about maybe you could reach 15," he said.
Federer: "We tried to bring Alcaraz to the Laver Cup this year, but he said: 'Look, it could be a little too much'. Hopefully he will play next year." 🙏