Rafael Nadal claims Roger Federer's best level was in 2017 after he made drastic change to his play style

22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal recently reflected on his great rivalry and experience playing with his fellow great of the sport, Roger Federer.

The two transcended the sport on the global level in the 21st century, where no one would have even thought of. Federer and Nadal shared great camaraderie on and off the court, and their rivalry is arguably considered the greatest rivalry of all time. Their rivalry brought millions of eyeballs to the sport, which overall helped tennis on a larger scale, inspiring millions to take up the sport, financial gains due to viewership, and the finest display of skills on the canvas.

Rafael Nadal was recently featured on Andy Roddick’s podcast, where he shared some insights on Roger Federer’s game style evolution, specifically how the Swiss ace excelled against him in the later stages of their careers.

“At the end of his career, I think he made a step forward. He was playing much, much more aggressive. For me, he was making a little bit mistake against at the beginning of his career that he was trying to play from his back hand with topspin. So he gave me the chance to keep hitting forehands against his back hand. So he gave me the time, then at the end of his career he started to go in to taking more risk,” he said [50:00 onwards].

“Honestly 2017, for a while was the best level of his career. For me, yes in terms of creating, you felt that you were in his hands. Of course on hard (court), on clay little bit different but on hard this is true. I played on, he was not playing on clay that year. Then he come back on clay few years later. I don’t remember exactly the year but he played very, very aggressive,” he further added.

The Spaniard gave an unpopular opinion regarding the Swiss master’s peak, as he claimed that Federer played some of the best tennis of his life in 2017. According to Rafael Nadal, he took a more aggressive approach in his game and played low-percentage tennis that came with high risks.

Roger Federer won the 2017 Australian Open against Rafael Nadal in the finals, which was his 20th and final Grand Slam. It was an iconic match, where Federer won the tussle in a setter 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. This was their last meeting in the finals of a Grand Slam in their career. That year, they played in three more matches, all in Masters 1000 events, with Federer coming out on top on every occasion.

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Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal on Roger Federer’s unpredictable serve

Roger Federer serving at the Wimbledon 2021 - Source: Getty

During their conversation, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal delved deeper into Roger Federer’s gameplay. Both legends praised Federer’s serving ability and emphasized his precision and disguise, which made it impossible to handle his serve.

“His serve was so difficult to read. He served, I mean of course he was very precise. But for me with the Rogers serve was very difficult to read because he was able to change it,” Rafael Nadal stated.

A top server himself, Roddick acknowledged his trouble with Federer’s serve and pitched in the conversation.

“He could hit seven different serves off the same toss exactly and was not predictable for me. Had a favourite serve but he could hit the other one,” Roddick said.

Their exchange shed a glimpse on Roger Federer’s serving greatness, which is unknown to many people. Two of the sport's greats recognised Federer’s serve and underscored that it was one of the most effective and underrated weapons in his arsenal. The discussion highlighted Roger Federer’s mastery and even the mutual respect and camaraderie between the three players.