"To have somebody like him as a rival helps you to let you know the things you have to do to be better" - Rafael Nadal on Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal credited his epic rivalry with Roger Federer as a key factor in his growth as a player, lauding the Swiss great for his contribution to his career. The Spaniard reflected on his on-court rivalry as well as his off-court relationship with Federer.

The Federer-Nadal duo, fondly called 'Fedal' by their plethora of fans, have played each other 40 times throughout their illustrious careers. Nadal, who leads their head-to-head record by a decent margin, expressed that there were many times Federer was better than him and he gained a lot of motivation from competing against Federer.

"I always wanted to think that my motivation never comes to me because of the others. It's a personal motivation. But of course, to have somebody like him as a rival that is amazingly good helps you to let you know the things you have to do to be better," said Nadal during a pre-Wimbledon news conference.

"In some ways, it's easier to have a way to improve when you have an example in front that is better than you, not always, but a lot of times," the Spaniard added.

The 36-year-old went on to say that his relationship with the Swiss player, both on and off the court, has always been positive.

"Our relationship has always been positive and very friendly. Even our rivalry on court never bothered our relationship outside of it," continued Nadal.

Speaking further about their historic rivalry, the 22-time Major champion admitted that he regrets not having played against Federer at the US Open. The two players have played multiple times at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon, but never at the Grand Slam event played in New York City.

Having said that, he looks back with fondness at their other epic matches, many of which will go down in history as some of the greatest matches of all time.

"We shared a lot of important things together, no? I think all the things that we achieved are difficult in some ways to think in tennis in the last 15-20 years...We have been playing in every big stadium. Not in New York. That's the only thing that bothers me a little bit is that we never played in New York."

"But in the rest of the most important events in the world we shared the court, fighting for the most important things. I think in some ways we pushed each other," the World No. 4 expressed.

Nadal spoke about Federer's influence on his career after being surprised to learn that the Swiss great played at Wimbledon for 23 consecutive years, a streak that ended at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.

"I am not a fan to keep living on the things you have achieved" - Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal Photocall After French Open Victory

While Roger Federer is not at Wimbledon this year, Rafael Nadal is one of the title contenders. The Spaniard is having a year to remember, having lost just three matches and remaining unbeaten so far at the Grand Slams. His focus, however, is already on the task at hand at Wimbledon and the rest of the season. The Spaniard is not one to rest on past laurels.

"The past is past and sport and life go by very quickly. I am not a fan to keep living on the things you have achieved. Sport doesn't give you the time to keep thinking on the things that happened. It is something that has already happened, that is going to be in my museum for the rest of my life, that makes me feel proud of it," he said on his season so far.

The 36-year-old has played two exhibition matches ahead of his Wimbledon opener on Tuesday. He defeated Stan Wawrinka in the first of those matches, before losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is a potential quarterfinal opponent at Wimbledon for the Spaniard.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion last played at Wimbledon in 2019, where he reached the semifinals. Incidentally, his last match at Wimbledon was against Federer, which was also their last match against each other. Federer won that clash in four sets.