Roger Federer has paid tribute to Rafael Nadal for winning a ‘gigantic’ 14th Roland Garros title, although he admitted he did not see much of it.
Nadal produced a stunning performance in Paris to claim yet another French Open title and extend his record Grand Slam count to 22.
He had to do it the hard way too, as he beat top-tenners Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud before getting his hands on his favourite trophy.
Federer is currently working his way back from a knee injury that has required three operations to correct, but he was as impressed with Nadal’s achievement as anyone.
In an interview with tagesanzeiger.ch, Federer admitted: “I didn’t watch the final.
“I watched the quarter-final (against Djokovic) a bit before I went to sleep,” Federer told tagesanzeiger.ch.
“In general, it’s just unbelievable what Rafa has achieved. The record of Pete Sampras, which I beat, was 14 Grand Slam titles.”
“Now Rafa won the French Open 14 times. That’s unbelievable. I was happy for him that he did it again. Hats off to Rafa.
“After the tenth, eleventh time, I already thought: This can’t be. He keeps raising the bar. It’s gigantic.”
The win put Rafael Nadal two majors ahead of rivals Federer and Djokovic in the Grand Slam race.
However, while Federer’s Grand Slam winning days are surely behind him, Novak Djokovic will be a heavy favourite to reduce those arears at Wimbledon this summer.
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