Rafael Nadal: "The image Novak Djokovic projects is worse than what he really is... He's the best in history, he's had a better body than mine"
Rafael Nadal has christened Novak Djokovic the "best" in history, admitting that the Serb has had the better body over the years in their rivalry and that it is hard for him, at this stage, to disagree with the numbers.
Djokovic became the man with the most Grand Slams in 2023 and is now two ahead of Nadal in the Slam race. With 22 to his name, the Spaniard is second in the race, followed by Federer and his 20 Majors. Djokovic also has won more Masters 1000 titles in history than anyone else and has reigned as the World No. 1 for longer than any other tennis player.
Speaking in a recent interview with LaSexta, Rafael Nadal touched on his rivalry with Djokovic and the public perception of the Serb, stating that it was true that Djokovic projected an image that made him look worse than who he really was.
In the 37-year-old's mind, Djokovic was a good person who had his own faults, much like everyone else. Having admitted that Djokovic was a better player than him, Nadal made it clear that he doesn't get angry with the Serb's success, seeing as he was not the type to get jealous over someone else's accolades.
"The image he projects is worse than what he really is. He is a good person, with his mistakes... but much better than what he looks like. When I see someone so successful, I don't like getting angry."
"Novak breaks the racket but at the next point he is one hundred percent, that's why he is the one who has achieved the most in the history of our sport. The numbers don't lie, I would say he is the best in history. He has had a better body than mine and that also counts," Nadal said (as quoted by Marca and various other sources).
For those unaware, Nadal and Djokovic have one of the most acclaimed rivalries in ATP history, having met a whopping 59 times on the tour. Their head-to-head record currently stands at 30-29 in favor of the man from Belgrade.
Rafael Nadal: "Tennis has given me the opportunity to experience beautiful things that neither I nor my people could have ever experienced"
During the interview, Rafael Nadal also spoke about whether he would ever get to a stage where he hated tennis, answering in the negative. While the Spaniard admitted that it was, at times, tiring to see his body not respond to him as he would like because of all the sacrifices he has made for the sport, he maintained that hating tennis would make him look very "ungrateful."
Emphasizing that tennis is the sole reason that he and his family have been able to enjoy so many beautiful things they otherwise would not have, the 22-time Grand Slam champion asserted his never-ending love for the game.
"It would be very ungrateful of me. Tennis has given me the opportunity to experience such beautiful things, things that neither I nor my people could have ever experienced. What tires me is having a body that does not respond to me as I would like," Nadal said.