Rafael Nadal’s sister Maribel gets emotional after farewell message by tennis icon
Ahead of his retirement, fellow tennis icon and longtime rival Roger Federer shared a lengthy statement for the Spaniard.
In the statement, Federer credited Nadal for helping him “reimagine” his game.
“Vamos, Rafa! As you get ready to graduate from tennis, I’ve got a few things to share before I maybe get emotional. start with the obvious: you beat me—a lot. More than I managed to beat you,” he wrote.
“You challenged me in ways no one else could. On clay, it felt like I was stepping into your backyard, and you made me work harder than I ever thought I could just to hold my ground. You made me reimagine my game—even going so far as to change the size of my racquet head, hoping for any edge.”
Nadal’s sister, Maribel, caught wind of Federer’s statement and reporsted it on Instagram Stories with a note of her appreciation. She included the teary-eyed and heart emojis in her post, while tagging Federer.
Game recognizes game.
Throughout their career, Nadal and Federer faced off an incredible 40 times. Nadal holds the all-time series lead at 26-14, including 10-4 in Grand Slam tournaments and 6-3 in Grand Slam Finals.
