Nienke's blog

Federer and Nadal Were the Best of Rivals. In the End, They’ll Be Partners.

The rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal has been one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history, it has been a 21st-century staple. This rivalry will end in harmony on Friday when Federer will play his final competitive match with Nadal as his doubles partner.

Righty versus lefty. Panache versus perspiration. Zen versus Vamos.

“Sitting here, it feels good that I go first from the guys; it just feels right,” Federer said at a news conference on Thursday, flanked by Murray, Nadal and Novak Djokovic, all his teammates for this special farewell weekend at the O2 Arena.

Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal used to be the Big Four, but they have later become the Big Three, which includes Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. Their careers are all deeply, inextricably intertwined. Actually, Nadal and Djokovic have played each other more often on tour than Nadal and Federer. However, the rivalry between Federer and Nadal was still the original golden-age rivalry.

Federer was not prepared to play one last singles match because of his knee injuries. So, he chose doubles because it was the safer option, but this will still be the first competitive match he has played in 14 months.

“I’m not sure if I can handle it all; I’ll try,” Federer said. “I have had some tougher moments as well in the past, you know, being horribly nervous all these years sometimes before matches. This one definitely feels a whole lot different.”

It’s different in part because his co-tormenters-in-chief, Nadal and Djokovic, are teammates this time.

“I am super excited to have them on our team and my team and not having to play against them on my last match,” Federer said.

On Friday night, on the same side of the net, at the end of an era, Federer and Nadal can take care of each other.

In my opinion, this is a well-written, beautiful, and even somewhat emotional news article and it is definitely newsworthy. Roger Federer was a famous tennis player that touched a lot of people around him. This article is especially newsworthy now that Federer has announced that he is retiring. People want to read about him now more than ever. This article beautifully describes the relationships he had with his fellow tennis player, especially his friendship/rivalry he had with Nadal. This really supports the main topic which is the fact that Federer’s last match will be a doubles match with Nadal as a partner. This article allows its readers to think back at the friendship that Federer and Nadal have and, opposed to that, their rivalry. Mentioning these moments in history makes the fact that they’ll be partners even more amazing. As someone who has played tennis for 7 years and who has followed a lot of Federer’s games, I think this article is beautifully written. I enjoyed reading it and it has made me a lot more excited to go and watch Federer’s last match on Friday.

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