Rafael Nadal’s uncle and coach Toni Nadal compared his nephew’s rivalry with Roger Federer to Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi, which is widely considered the greatest sporting rivalry of all time.
Nadal and Federer, often termed “Fedal” formed one of the greatest tennis rivalries as the two locked horns a total of 40 times in their career with the Spaniard having an overall lead with 24-16 head-to-head record, including a 14-10 in the finals.
The two also share 42 Grand Slams between them with Nadal winning 22 and Federer retiring with 20 majors to his name.
In a recent interview, Toni stated that while Nadal and Federer have dominated the tennis world like Ronaldo and Messi, their rivalries are not on the same level as the Spaniard can do everything his rival did unlike the Portuguese, who is not on the same level as the Argentine.
“The rivalry between Nadal and Federer is comparable to Messi and Ronaldo in terms of how they have endured over time, but has two differences," said Nadal.
“Between Messi and Cristiano, there is a greater difference than between Nadal and Federer, and the other difference is that Rafael can do all the things Federer can do, whereas Ronaldo cannot do everything that Messi does.”
Surprisingly, Toni didn’t include Novak Djokovic in the debate who has not just won more Grand Slams (24) than Nadal and Federer but also edged both in their head-to-head record.
Remember, Ronaldo and Messi formed one of the greatest rivalries the world had ever seen. The two have been competing with each other ever since their first encounter in the UEFA Champions League in 2008 during Manchester United vs FC Barcelona.
Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009 which started the rivalry which is still going although both the players are nearing the end of their careers with the Portuguese playing in the Saudi Pro League and Messi spending his remaining career in the Major League Soccer (MLS).
