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Novak Djokovic is the winner of this year’s U.S. Open. The title makes him the player with the most Grand Slam wins in the Open era. In a new interview, Rafael Nadal shared that he’s yet to congratulate Djokovic, revealing why.
“The truth is that I haven’t sent any message to Djokovic yet out of pure ignorance,” said Nadal at the Movistar+ arena. “When you win something so important, from experience I know it’s better to take the time to appreciate that message. I’ll send it but I haven’t done it yet. Of course, I sent messages to Alcaraz when he won or when he was about to win. The others – on the circuit I don’t have many friends left, I’m from another generation. I talk to Federer every now and then,” he said.
Nadal has always praised Djokovic, and recently called him the best player in history. “I believe that numbers are numbers and statistics are statistics and, in that sense, I think he has better numbers than mine and that is indisputable,” he said to the Spanish outlet Diario AS. “It is not beneath me nor do I have an ego big enough to try to disguise a reality that is not. This is the truth.”
“The rest are tastes, inspiration, sensations that one player or the other may transmit to you, that you may like one or the other more. I think that with respect to titles, Djokovic is the best in history and there is nothing to discuss in that.”
Rafael Nadal’s health
Rafael Nadal hasn’t played competitive tennis since January, when he injured his hip at the Australian Open. He revealed that next year would likely be his last. “This is my current dream, to go out on a tennis court and feel like I can play competitively. This is the first objective,” he said when discussing his recovery. “Afterwards, you never know. If I’m only good enough to go out on a court and feel that I’m only going out to be minimally competitive, to not be a disaster, then I’m not going to play much. I’m going to play the few tournaments I feel like saying goodbye to.”