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Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer: ‘It is a true honour for me to congratulate Rafa Nadal on his 20th Grand Slam victory’


Roger Federer has paid tribute to ‘greatest rival’ Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard equalled his record of 20 Grand Slam titles.

Nadal won his 13th French Open title on Sunday, beating word number one Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

It put the Mallorcan in exclusive company with Federer at the to of the all time rankings, and the 39-year-old has welcomed him into the fold.

“I have always had the utmost respect for my friend Rafa as a person and as a champion,” Roger Federer tweeted after Rafael Nadal won the French Open final.

“As my greatest rival over many years, I believe we have pushed each other to become better players.

“Therefore, it is a true honour for me to congratulate him on his 20th Grand Slam victory.

“It is especially amazing that he has now won Roland Garros an incredible 13 times, which is one of the greatest achievements in sport.

“I also congratulate his team because nobody can do this alone. Well done Rafa. You deserve it.”


Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.