Millions of tennis fans had their wishes fulfilled today as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were live together on Instagram. Even though the session was quite brief and didn’t cover many topics, it was still a gold mine for tennis deprived fans.
Just the sight of Rafa and Roger struggling with the technicalities of new-age social media provided a hearty laugh to followers. To be honest, at one point it felt like two out of touch dads had landed a mobile phone! However, the two legends were amazing as always with their wealth of experience.
One of the funnier things they discussed was about their childhood. Of course, they lacked the formal facilities that aspirants today have access to. Rafa recounted how his parents were at their toes to help him keep in touch with his schedule.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and taxi drivers
Roger Federer was explaining how he is passing his days by hitting against the wall. That’s obviously a nostalgic memory for Federer who used to do that as a child. However, Federer wanted to know from Rafa about his childhood. Even though Nadal has his own academy today, that was not the case in his childhood. A lot of the facilities were made out of improvisation.
Roger: “You probably didn’t have the set up like an academy right, but how was your set up when you were growing up, was it simple was it a good one or was it a perfect one.”
Rafa: “I was lucky, my parents were like a taxi” (referencing them constantly driving him to play tennis when he was a kid)
Roger: “Ah good! I’m a taxi driver nowadays as well”
Rafa: “So you know how the things work, I was in school, I was playing football, I was playing tennis. Was not like today where everything is together and things are easier.”
Nadal explained how everything was at a separate place. School happened in the morning followed by football and tennis classes. His parents played a crucial role in getting him to the right place at the right times.
