"Rivalry with Roger Federer was more attractive for fans than Novak Djokovic": Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal had his opinions on some of his life's greatest rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The Spanish star player reminisced about his time on the court as he fondly looked back at the times that these two tennis greats pushed him to his limits and challenged him to be better.

Nadal bid an emotional farewell to the sport last year after Spain lost in the Davis Cup. The 22-time Grand Slam Champion, considered one of the greatest to ever grace the sport, still ensures to contribute to the game through the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy, which aims to create more such promising talents for years to come.

The tennis star engaged in a light-hearted conversation with Andy Roddick in an exclusive interview on his podcast, Served. The Spaniard spoke about the reasons fans were more fond of his rivalry with Federer, even if he had more heavyweight encounters with Novak Djokovic.

"Well I think having completely different approach to the matches. I think with Roger [Federer] the match, I think that's in my opinion that’s why the rivalry with Roger was a little bit more I mean attractive for the fans than Novak [Djokovic] against me. Even if I played more times against Novak."- he said. (47:20 onwards)

Rafael Nadal also elaborated on how he had to tweak his game to handle Federer.

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How Rafael Nadal altered his style to play Federer

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer share a great off-court camaraderie too - Source: Getty

Rafael Nadal spoke about how he had to change his game when it came to facing Roger Federer. He shed light on how his dynamic with the Swiss gave them a clear idea of how the game would progress.

"With Roger [Federer] I think the strategy was more clear...I was trying to kill his backhand all the time and even if I had the chance to play the shot down the line, I was saying to myself "Okay, I have to play the shot down the line, it's only for two reasons: One is because I go for the winner or the other is because I need to put him away from that side to create more space.""- he said. (47:55 onwards)

The tennis legends face each other for a total of 40 matches and Nadal leads their all-time head-to-head record with most of his triumphs recorded on clay. The duo played a key role in shaping modern-day tennis and will continue being one of the greatest tennis rivalries of all times.