Rafael Nadal’s sister Maribel reacts as Roger Federer heaps praise on the Spaniard’s ‘incredible’ tennis academy
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are unarguably two of the best tennis players the world has ever seen, and the duo have continued to keep in touch after the latter's retirement. Recently, Federer heaped praise on his rival’s academy in Spain, and Nadal's sister had the sweetest reaction to the compliments.
Nadal and Federer were fierce rivals on the courts, but the duo have been good friends away from tennis. In January this year, the Swiss star visited the former's tennis academy in Mallorca and had nothing but good things to say about it.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg TV, Roger Federer was asked to share some investment advice for his rival, and the 20-time Grand Slam champion replied:
“I know he does a lot of investments, actually. I was surprised how much he was doing when I went to visit his academy in Mallorrca, which by the way, is incredible. If you haven’t seen it yet you should go and look at it, it’s a wonderful academy. I think it’s great what he is doing.
“He was telling me about a lot of investments he was doing off to the side, which is exciting to see. He is not only into forehands and backhands, he is also interested in investments. Who knows, maybe in the future we can do something together as well.”
Nadal’s sister, Maria Isabel, reacted to the praise by sharing the quotes on her Instagram story and writing:
“🤗😍.”
Roger Federer reacts to Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal from the Laver Cup
While Roger Federer called time on his tennis career in 2022, Rafael Nadal has continued to be on the court. However, the Spaniard's 2024 has seen him struggle with form due to injuries, and his best performance this year was a quarterfinal finish at an ATP 250 event in Brisbane.
Most recently, he withdrew from the ongoing Laver Cup citing fitness concerns, and Federer told MOPO he had been looking forward to seeing his former rival on the court in Berlin:
"I had great hopes that he would somehow manage to play a match but he simply told us that he would prefer not to do it, that he can't and he doesn't feel ready.
"I think he has to decide what to do next, and I think this is the moment he is going through right now. He has done everything for this sport. It would be phenomenal if he could last another season, but only Rafa can answer that question."
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hold a total of 42 Major titles combined. The duo faced each other 40 times on the international circuit, with the latter winning 24 of their encounters.