Rafa Nadal Opens Curtain on Big 3 Relationship

By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Photo credit: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty

At the peak of their powers, Big 3 champions sometimes banged heads.

These days, the Big 3 can break bread “together without problems” says Rafael Nadal.

King of Clay Nadal sat down with the Movistar+ TV interview show Universo Valdano on Monday in Spain a year after he closed the curtain on his glorious career after bowing to Botic Van de Zandschulp before supportive Spanish fans in Malaga, Spain in the 2024 Davis Cup quarterfinals.

In a wide-ranging interview, Nadal lifted the curtain on his relationship with fellow Big 3 champions Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. 

The 22-time Grand Slam champion said as rivals there were times he felt things “more intensely” but said now they can share dinner together and feels that’s “something to be proud of.”

“When you’re younger, you experience everything more intensely. Over time, things smooth out and we all grow,” Nadal told Universo Valdano in comments republished by AS.com. “The positive thing about our time is that we have finished our careers and can have dinner together without problems. This is something to be proud of. 

“We have competed at the highest level for the greatest achievements in our sport, and although we have had strong rivalries, we have not taken them to the extreme. The rivalry has remained on the court, and personal relationships have always been one of respect and admiration. 

“Over the years, you end up appreciating the people you’ve lived with and lived so much with. I appreciate my rivals, even those who made me suffer on the court, because I value what I have lived with them and I feel happy to have been part of this history. I think we have left a legacy.”

At his Davis Cup retirement, Nadal spoke with great gratitude about his career and grew deeply emotional when a tribute video was played on the big screen.

Reflecting on retirement a year later, Nadal conceded his emotional tank “already empty” and that he was ready to step away from the sport.

“I was ready. I think I pushed my options until the end. This is my reality,” Nadal told Universo Valdano in comments republished by AS.com. “The fact that I had exhausted all the real options I had to continue competing at the level I would have liked gave me the conviction and peace of mind to make the decision in peace, convinced that it was what I had to do, because there was no more.

“The tank was already empty. I don’t have any bad memories about this stage. There are people who, of course, have different opinions and think that I should have left tennis earlier, that it didn’t make sense to reach the end. But for me it did make sense. One must act, in my opinion, in accordance with who one is as a person. I tried to push my options until I really couldn’t take it anymore, for a very simple reason: I didn’t want to lie about what I was doing or be in a situation where I didn’t have the necessary motivation.”

The 14-time Roland Garros champion said he retired for one simple reason: He poured all his passion into tennis and had nothing more to give.  

“I retired because I couldn’t give more, but I was still happy doing what I did,” Nadal said. “I had an operation and they told me that there were options to recover completely, and that I should give myself a reasonable amount of time to know. I realized that I wasn’t really at the level I needed to keep competing. I think I pushed my career to the limit.”

Throughout his career, Nadal adhered to a series of strict rituals, including aligning his water bottles at the ideal angle on changeover and often delaying stepping out for the opening coin toss until his opponent had first done so. In his Universo Valdano interview, Nadal insisted his not a superstitious person apart from tennis and admitted “When I saw myself on television [performing rituals] I didn’t like what I saw.” However, the former No. 1 believes adhering to his routines helped his discipline on court.

“I’m not a very superstitious person and, outside of tennis, I don’t have routines or rituals. All that stayed on the court and in the competition,” Nadal said. “Unfortunately, inside I needed those rituals. I wish I could have found the ability to concentrate without having to follow those routines. 

“At the beginning of my career I didn’t do it so much, but tennis is a sport that mentally demands a lot, that eats you inside. You race pretty much every day, and you go out on the track knowing that at night you could be flying home.

“Now, I don’t need to find routines that make me feel comfortable and safe, but at the time, I needed them. I tried to reduce them because, when I saw myself on television, I didn’t like what I saw. However, the truth is that they gave me security and helped me to be 100% focused on what I was doing.”

The owner of 92 career championship has summed up the legacy he hopes to leave in three simple words: A good person.

Today, Nadal still watches tennis and says he sees traces of the Big 3 intense competitiveness rooted in the rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Nadal said Sinner and Alcaraz reinforce the Big 3 spirit: You can be ferocious rivals on court and friendly champions off court.

“Without taking away from their merit, they also want to do things well, and you have to give them all the credit. It’s not easy, they’re very young and they’re competing for the most important things,” Nadal said. “I think we have contributed to the new generations thinking that you can be a fierce competitor without having to hate your rival. 

“You can have a relationship, I wouldn’t say friendship, but an optimal personal relationship, even if you are great rivals. This is a good legacy and a good example that we have left in an era of maximum competition.”