In the first months of 2004 season, it seemed the young gun Rafael Nadal was ready to challenge the players from the very top, reaching his first ATP final in Adelaide and beating world no. 1 Roger Federer in Miami in straight sets.
Kicking off the clay season in Estoril, Rafa injured his left ankle against Richard Gasquet, suffering a lot and skipping both Roland Garros and Wimbledon to lose ground and almost 30 places on the ATP ranking list. Starting all over in Bastad in July, Rafa advanced into a couple of quarter-finals on clay before experiencing short campaigns in Canada and Cincinnati, flying back to Europe and winning the first ATP title in Sopot.
Taking some time off, Nadal returned to the US Open where he reached the third round on debut a year ago, defeating Ivo Heuberger in five sets to arrange the meeting with world no. 2 and the defending champion Andy Roddick.
Carried by the home crowd on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Andy delivered a one-sided 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 triumph in an hour and 36 minutes, leaving the youngster behind after a rock-solid performance on both serve and return. Dealing with an elbow injury, Rafa couldn’t do much behind the initial shot, giving serve away seven times and earning only one break to propel the American through into the last 32.
Having a chance to play against both Roger Federer and Andy Roddick within six months, Rafa was asked to compare them after losing to Roddick. The Spaniard gave the advantage to Federer who is a more complete player in his opinion, possessing all the shots in the book.
At the same time, Roddick mainly relies on his powerful serve and forehand, which wasn’t enough to compete against the Swiss. Up to that point, Federer scored seven wins in eight encounters over Roddick, beating him in the final at Wimbledon and Canada Masters that summer.
“Roger Federer and Andy Roddick are very different. For me, Roger Federer is the favorite in that possible match; he has every shot in the book while Roddick relies on power.”
‘It’s a legend’: Roger Federer finally asks Rafa Nadal about tennis myth
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have created tennis’ most iconic rivalry and the Swiss maestro finally got to ask the Spaniard a question that had been ‘bothering’ him throughout his career.
Fans are always treated to some special moments when the two living legends chat and this time didn’t disappoint as Nadal started off with an epic fail as he hilariously struggled to invite Federer into an Instagram Live video as the pair isolate during the coronavirus pandemic.
The friends shared a few laughs before the chat turned to tennis and Federer finally asked his friend and long-time rival a question that has irked him throughout his career.
“One thing I want to ask you because it has been bothering me, it’s that you are a lefty [left handed in tennis],” Federer said as they laughed.
“You know it’s been a problem for me, why when you are a righty, why do you play lefty?”
The question had Nadal in stitches and he tried to put Federer’s mind at ease.
“No, I can not play righty,” Nadal said.
“That’s just a legend.
“My basketball skills are with my right, all my feeling is with my right, but not with tennis and not with football.”
Federer then asked whether Nadal switched hands at a young age, possibly to gain an advantage.
But Nadal again put those rumours to bed claiming when he started tennis at a young age his trainers – including Uncle Toni – didn’t even know what hand was dominant.
“I started with two hands, backhand and forehand, and probably because I was hitting two backhands people didn’t know, but I have always been a lefty.”
Federer laughed: “So it’s a legend. Well I cannot be angry, it’s just natural so that is fine.”
Nadal and Federer have played each other 40 times on the ATP tour with the Spaniard leading the head-to-head 24-16.
Nadal’s hilarious technology fail
He may have 19 Grand Slam titles, one shy of Federer’s all-time men’s record, but when it comes to IT skills, he resembled a Sunday morning park hacker crumbling under pressure.
With 40,000 viewers logged on, a flummoxed Nadal stared into cyberspace, trying to figure out why the Swiss maestro, isolating at home in Switzerland, refused to appear.
Eventually, to Nadal’s obvious relief, the great man popped up to share a few minutes of chit-chat about how each is dealing with the shutdown of tennis because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Finally!” Nadal said to a chuckling Federer.
